Sam Smith’s new album ‘Hazel Eyes’ becomes their first to miss the Billboard 200 entirely, though the set does reach the Top Album Sales chart in the U.S. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 05: Sam Smith attends the 2025 Met Gala Celebrating “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 05, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/MG25/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
A little more than a decade ago, Sam Smith broke out as one of the most exciting new musical artists in the world. They delivered their debut album, In the Lonely Hour, in May 2014, and Smith quickly became a homegrown hero in their native United Kingdom. Several Grammy wins – including for Best New Artist and both Record and Song of the Year – helped solidify their stardom on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the Lonely Hour produced multiple top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including Smith’s biggest smash to this day, “Stay With Me,” which missed out on dominating by just one space. In the years since that introductory set, Smith has delivered four additional albums and dabbled in many different genres. Sadly, the singer-songwriter’s latest collection Hazel Eyes underperforms fairly dramatically as it becomes a commercial disappointment in America.
Sam Smith’s Hazel Eyes Debuts on One Billboard Chart
Hazel Eyes debuts on only one Billboard chart this week. Smith’s latest studio effort opens at No. 30 on the Top Album Sales ranking. Luminate reports that Hazel Eyes sold 3,500 copies during its first tracking period. That figure includes purchases across physical formats like CD, cassette and vinyl, as well as digital downloads.
Hazel Eyes Becomes One of Sam Smith’s Lowest-Charting Projects
Hazel Eyes becomes Smith’s second-lowest-peaking project on the Top Album Sales chart. Only an EP titled Nirvana topped out in a less impressive position. That short set debuted on the roster in April 2014 and, one week later, reached its No. 126 peak. The ranking has since been shortened and now features only 50 spaces.
Hazel Eyes is Smith’s only traditional studio LP to miss the top 10 on the Top Album Sales chart. In fact, none of their four preceding full-lengths failed to enter the top five.
15 Albums Debut on the Sales Chart
15 releases debut on this week’s Top Album Sales chart, and Hazel Eyes ranks as the eleventh-loftiest of the bunch. The roster is ruled by K-pop boy band Enhypen, as the act’s new EP The Sin: Bliss launches at No. 1. Weezer, Twenty One Pilots and Kiss all start new efforts inside the top 10 as well.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 21: Brandon Flowers performs at O2 Academy Brixton on May 21, 2015 in London, United Kingdom (Photo by Brian Rasic/Redferns via Getty Images)
Redferns via Getty Images
Several other names, including Brandon Flowers, Stella Lefty and Dan + Shay, also open projects ahead of Smith’s Hazel Eyes. Only a few new arrivals by names like Sophie, The Afghan Whigs, Grace Potter and the late Dolly Parton debut behind Smith.
Sam Smith Misses the Billboard 200 Entirely
Hazel Eyes misses the Billboard 200, the ranking of the most-consumed albums and EPs in the United States, where both sales and streams factor into a title’s position. This marks the first time in Smith’s career that one of their regular studio albums has failed to reach the roster.
Smith scored one No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with The Thrill of It All, which followed In the Lonely Hour. Their debut full-length peaked at No. 2, while later efforts Love Goes and Gloria climbed to Nos. 5 and 7, respectively. Two EPs, Live From the Royal Albert Hall and the aforementioned Nirvana, stalled at Nos. 77 and 126 after relatively short runs.
The fact that Hazel Eyes misses the Billboard 200 entirely is bad news for this era. Its appearance solely on the sales-focused ranking suggests that much of the measurable activity surrounding the project came from purchases, likely from Smith’s most dedicated followers. The collection did not generate enough interest among the American masses partially because none of the singles pushed from the set have charted in the country either.
What makes the showing especially surprising is that all four of Smith’s previous traditional studio albums not only landed on the Billboard 200, but broke into the top 10. It was only a few years ago that Gloria marked a new low among those releases by peaking at No. 7, where it debuted. One album later, Smith completely fails to reach the 200-space rundown at all.
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