Sam Smith Confirms Engagement to Christian Cowan, and Reveals How New Album Pays Tribute to Their Fashion Designer Fiancé

The couple made their red carpet debut at the Met Gala in May 2024

NEED TO KNOW

• Sam Smith and Christian Cowan are engaged after three years of dating

• The musician confirmed their engagement to Cowan in an interview with The New York Times, and revealed their forthcoming album pays a special tribute to their new fiancé

• The couple’s big news comes shortly after they attended the 2026 Met Gala together, both donning matching looks designed by Cowan

Wedding bells are ringing for Sam Smith and Christian Cowan!

The “Stay With Me” singer, 34, confirmed to The New York Times that they and their longtime partner, fashion designer Cowan, 32, are officially engaged. The couple’s happy news comes after roughly three years of dating.

News of Smith’s engagement also comes less than a month ahead of the release of the singer’s fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes — the title of which, Smith revealed to The Times, is a special tribute to their new fiancé’s striking eye color.

Smith began composing the album’s first track, “Everlasting Love,” the night before their first date with Cowan, they said. As devout fans know, their music so often leans into the melancholy side of romance, but this song marked their first time writing “about requited love,” Smith said.

Smith and Cowan’s big news comes nearly three months after they attended the 2026 Met Gala together, during which Smith wore a look designed by their partner of three years. 

“This look is a love letter to the king of fashion illustration, and to my love, Sam,” Cowan wrote on Instagram alongside photos of the pair in their matching ensembles. “I have always loved Erté.”

“I love the way he brought costume art to the world through his visionary illustrations,” he continued. “255,000 individual crystals and beads. 2,000 hours of artisanal hand sewing.”

Smith and Cowan were first spotted out together in December 2022 when they posed for a photo with former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden at the White House, where the singer performed in celebration of Biden officially signing the Respect for Marriage Act.

While the pair was seen together multiple times in the months following their first outing, including a visit to a tattoo studio in Australia, they didn’t officially confirm their relationship until May 2024. 

Smith previously opened up about wanting to keep their romantic life out of the spotlight. 

“Over the last few years, as I’ve become confident in my skin, I’ve got loads of wonderful romantic attention. It’s been incredible,” the singer told GQ U.K. in October 2022. “I’ve decided that I will always keep that private now.”

“I have had relationships where I’ve shared stuff online and talked about it here and there,” they continued. “And I just don’t want to do that. I think being loved by someone is such a gift – for yourself. And I think my job can get in the way of that – the purity of that love – sometimes.”

In May 2024, the couple made their first red carpet appearance at that year’s Met Gala, during which Cowan said the metal-plated roses attached to their coordinated looks were a nod to the beginning of their relationship. 

“Early on in our days, I gave Sam a metal-plated rose,” the designer told Vogue. “So it was a nod to that moment.”