Since he first brought out his debut album last year, Sam Smith has been described by many as 'the male Adele' and been compared to his fellow London pop star.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Smith has spoken out about the label, describing it as 'annoying'.

We're very different, and I feel like the constant comparisons might piss her off," he said. "It just annoys me that people can't digest two popstars singing really personal songs who don't look like normal popstars."

Smith has also been in the news this week after US radio shock jock Howard Stern made a series of derogatory comments about his appearance, calling him a 'fat, ugly mother*cker'. The singer urged his fans to ignore Stern and a number of his celeb pals, including Example and actor Will Poulter, leapt to his defence on Twitter.