Sam Smith and Kim Petras make history with ‘Unholy’
Superstar British singer Sam Smith is back with another collaborative hit single. “Unholy”, featuring Germany’s Kim Petras, is a total LGBTQ+ feast. The pair made history today when the smash hit single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They are the first trans artists to occupy that place ever in Billboard history. Additionally, it’s the first time Smith has reached number one on the Billboard chart, period.
It’s easy to see why “Unholy” has become an instant success. Smith’s voice is positively haunting, as always, and Petras adds a whole lot of WOW into the mix. The song is definitely centered around the theme of adultery and the music video features drag queens, strippers, and a lashing of burlesque to really get the queer senses tingling.
Smith came out as nonbinary in 2020 and now goes by they/them pronouns, and Petras underwent a very high-profile gender confirmation surgery when she was sixteen years old. Sam Smith has become an LGBTQ+ icon all around the world, and Petras isn’t doing too bad for herself either. Her songs on Spotify currently have millions of plays on the streaming platform. She, too, is a crowd favorite in the LGBTQ+ community.
This is a huge win for transgender people everywhere. We are currently living through a time where transgender folks around the globe are experiencing all kinds of discrimination from their communities and their governments. From violence on the streets to the legislative rooms where the laws that are supposed to keep folks safe are made, trans folks are being targeted at a disproportionately higher rate than any other LGBTQ+ group.
The success of “Unholy” couldn’t have come at a more opportune time, and it sends a very clear message: we’re here, we’re trans and we’re queer, and we’re not going anywhere.
Q+ Magazine wants to congratulate both Sam Smith and Kim Petras on the success of “Unholy”.
If you haven’t seen the music video, check it out below.
