Sam Smith gave Fergie a live reset in Los Angeles. During a Spotify Live Room session at Spotify Music Studios, Smith performed the first live version of WHEN HE'S GONE and covered BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY.
Spotify Live Room in Los Angeles
The session was recorded at Spotify Music Studios in Los Angeles, where Live Room has become a repeat-stop format for artists rather than a one-off showcase. Role Model, Zara Larsson, Kehlani, Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice and Barry Can't Swim have all taken part before Smith.
For listeners, the practical change is simple: the performances are already available to stream on Spotify and YouTube. That moves the set beyond the studio audience and turns a live debut into a catalog item people can revisit instead of only catching once.
WHEN HE'S GONE first live
WHEN HE'S GONE is described as coming from an upcoming album, which gives the performance a second job beyond promotion. It introduces new material in public before the record arrives, but the release timing for that album is not laid out here.
BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY carries the other half of the session's value. Smith's cover of Fergie's song creates a direct link between a new original and a familiar pop benchmark, which is exactly the kind of pairing that keeps a live-room performance moving on its own terms.
Spotify and YouTube access
Spotify and YouTube now carry the session, so the audience is no longer limited to whoever was in the room at Spotify Music Studios in Los Angeles. That matters most for anyone tracking Smith's next era: the new song has a public first live run, while the album clock still has no visible finish line.
Smith has made the move that counts most for a rollout like this — put the song in front of people early, then let the stream do the rest. The unresolved part is the album itself, and that is where the real commercial read on WHEN HE'S GONE will land.
