USA TODAY Song of the Year: Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me'

In a year that saw a stack of new artists — Iggy Azalea, Meghan Trainor, Nico & Vinz, Magic! — creating some of the year's biggest hits, few breakthroughs had the impact of 22-year-old British singer Sam Smith.

Just as Stay With Me was breaking in the U.S., Smith announced he was gay, the kind of revelation that could have stalled a record in years past. Perhaps it would have anyway had Stay With Me been a lesser record.

Written with James Napier and Williams Phillips, Stay With Me — from his debut album In the Lonely Hour — found Smith begging for love, or at least a human connection, willing to settle for solace he knew would be temporary at best. Stay With Me's gospel-tinged piano and Smith's sweet, heart-tugging falsetto struck a chord of universal yearning, like the living embodiment of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' Same Love. A chorus of voices joined him on the refrain, driving home his plea, as though their presence might make him feel less alone.

Smith apparently wasn't the only person who felt this way: Not only did Stay With Me pave the way to his six Grammy nominations, including song and record of the year, but sympathetic listeners downloaded the track more than 3 million times.