Sam Smith Recalls His Painful Past

Jan. 29, 2015— -- Nominated for six Grammys, Sam Smith has come a long way from his painful past.

In a new cover story for Rolling Stone, the 22-year-old openly gay pop star detailed several painful bullying incidents while growing up.

Once, he was walking through his hometown with his dad when someone drove by and yelled out an anti-gay slur.

"I was just embarrassed that my dad had to see that, because I could only imagine how you feel as a parent. You just want to kill them," Smith told the magazine. "I was always embarrassed for the people around me. It actually never deeply affected me, you know?"

He said the worst incident happened after he moved from his small hometown to London, where he was attacked while walking around in makeup.

"I got punched in my neck, just out of nowhere," Smith recalled. "It wasn't the easiest."

And like most people, Smith had his first experience with heartbreak in his teens.

He recalled writing a "really intense" love letter to a popular classmate who was two years older than him.

The student turned out to be straight, but Smith said he wrote back a long, thoughtful letter, saying he saw Smith only as a friend.

"It makes me emotional, actually," Smith said. "He looked out for me for the rest of school. He just made sure that if anyone took the piss out of me, he would stick up for me. He could have made it hell for me, you know?"

Though Smith has earned kudos for the raw honesty he pours into his music and for being a different kind of pop star, he still has his insecure moments.

"I just want to lose weight for the Grammys, if I'm honest," said Smith, who is currently on a cayenne-pepper juice regimen. "I'm just very body-conscious. Sometimes I'm really proud that I don't look like other pop stars. But there's also moments where I'm like, 'Ugh, I wish I had abs like [Justin] Bieber.'"