UK crooner Sam Smith regaled the crowd at this year's MTV Video Music Awards with a stripped down performance of his smash single "Stay With Me" while Common lead the audience in a moment of silence for Ferguson, Missouri. Sam Smith performed under a spotlight with little more than a piano accompaniment as the audience sang along to the standout track from his In The Lonely Hour LP. Before presenting the award for best hip-hop video, Common took a moment to address the week's worth of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri following the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown, noting that "hip-hop has always been about truth and has been a powerful instrument of social change." Common then requested that the audience to pause for a moment of silence "for Mike Brown and for peace in this country and in the world." Check the footage below to watch Common and Sam Smith's respective contributions to the VMA broadcast. Get more on the 2014 Video Music Awards and stream the entire broadcast via MTV. Stay tuned for more from Common and Sam Smith.
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