Lauren Spencer Smith
With the equally enchanting and upsetting break-up ballad "Fingers Crossed", a new pop career began in February 2022 that is unparalleled: 19-year-old Lauren Spencer Smith from Vancouver Island, Canada, literally came out of nowhere and has since been charming not only her peers with her voice and her self-composed songs. "Fingers Crossed" has been streamed 327 million times on Spotify alone since its release, and the follow-up single "Flowers" is currently also scraping the 167 million mark on Spotify. And all thanks to a few short snippets on TikTok.

Lauren Spencer Smith bluntly conveys what's on her mind. When she steps up to the microphone, the Vancouver Island singer-songwriter tells the kind of stories that are usually only shared long after the sun goes down by best friends. Her unfiltered emotions resonate just as loudly as her voluminous vocals, tracing the highs and lows of life and everything in between with sharp lyrics and even sharper melodies. Balancing a job and school, she taught herself piano and guitar and has been posting videos on social media since she was eleven.

One day she sang Lady Gaga's "Always Remember Us This Way" from "A Star Is Born" in her father's truck. The resulting impromptu clip exploded with tens of millions of views on Facebook. American Idol invited her to perform on the 2020 season, and she placed in the top 20. Countless songwriting sessions followed as she honed her skills alongside several well-known producers and independent talents.

In the midst of the COVID lockdowns, she launched her TikTok page and fed it a non-stop stream of new content. With a rousing cover of Olivia Rodrigo's "All I Want" and originals like "For Granted" and "Back To Friends", she first gained traction on TikTok and subsequently on all streaming platforms. Then came her first official single, "Fingers Crossed" - setting the stage for her big breakthrough. A smartphone video of Lauren's unplugged performance of the song set TikTok on fire, generating over half a billion views on the platform, surpassing 400 million streams worldwide and reaching the Top 10 on Pop & Hot AC Radio. When the song was released as an official single in early 2022, it became an international chart hit. It reached the Top 20 in the US, the Top 5 in the UK and even reached #1 on the charts in Ireland and Norway.

After receiving recognition from Billboard, Genius, Stereogum and others, Lauren worked on her debut album. "I've been working on this album for years," she says. "It's been with me through so much of my life, the ups and downs, and it means more to me than I can put into words. It tells a story of reflection, healing and growth. I went through a tough break up and the album tells the story of that, the journey there and how I am now in a happier relationship. The title comes from the one object in my life that has been with me in every emotion on this journey - my bedroom and bathroom mirror." Her first full album Mirror was released on 14 July and is an incredibly personal piece of work for the artist and in September is in Germany with her Mirror Tour, for two dates.

“Spencer Smith’s soulful, slightly serrated voice is of the sing-the-phone-book variety: one of those natural wonders that can move listeners no matter what’s going on around it.” — LA Times

“It just felt like such a Lauren Spencer Smith song. I heard this and I was like “yes bitch!” and then I was like “wait you want me and Em on this!?? My favorite human beings in one song?” Then I wrote my silly little lyrics and sang my silly little song, now I’m here, now Lauren’s here and now Em’s here.” — GAYLE

“Just from the first bar the song is so cool and the fact that she wanted us on it was the greatest honor. We’re living out our Powerpuff dream.” — Em Beihold