Sam Smith Turns Whitney Houston's 'How Will I Know' Into Tender Ballad

 By 
Brian Anthony Hernandez
 on 
Sam Smith Turns Whitney Houston's 'How Will I Know' Into Tender Ballad
Sam Smith performs at the Belasco Theatre on April 15 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

British crooner Sam Smith has transformed the late Whitney Houston's 1985 dance hit "How Will I Know" into a stirring ballad anchored by his familiar falsetto.

Smith performed the cover on radio program SiriusXM Hits 1, which posted the video over the weekend to much fanfare, causing his rendition to become a Facebook trending topic well into Monday. The video is nearing 1 million YouTube views as of Monday morning.

[seealso slug="songs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-2-music-soundtrack/"]

Woah. My Whitney cover has had 817,055 views in 3 days!! Jeeeeheeeeezus http://t.co/k5syYXZmGx— SAM SMITH (@samsmithworld) June 23, 2014

The buzz for this "How Will I Know" cover comes during the same month the 21-year-old singer-songwriter released his debut album, In the Lonely Hour, in the United States.

Album is still NUMBER 1 On American ITunes!!!! Holy shit http://t.co/b9rPQwvsTR— SAM SMITH (@samsmithworld) June 22, 2014

The album, which Smith says "is about a guy that I fell in love with last year and he didn't love me back," features his popular singles "Stay With Me" and "Leave Your Lover."

BONUS: 10 Copycats Who Stirred Up Treble in Music History

[nggallery id=16839]

The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!