The video for the song, which directly addressed gay discrimination in Russia -- while the lyrics addressed the same in the Catholic church, went viral and created a bidding war between labels.
The track, nominated for the Grammy for the Song of the Year, became 2014's most viral track on Spotify.
His self-titled debut album, released late last year, made TimeOut's top 30 albums of the year list with our reviewer describing Hozier as "a prodigious talent who writes lyrics with the passion and curiosity of youth, but the poetry of a much older troubadour.
"With a voice that can swoop from deep and pure, to primal and haunting in the space of a song, his debut self-titled album had him charting all over the globe with good reason."
Hozier's debut album charted the top 10 in 11 countries, though it took until March for the album to peak at number six in the New Zealand charts.
His meteoric rise via that song, which went to number two in the US, has baffled the singer-songwriter.
"I'm still trying to figure out what's happening," he told Rolling Stone. "I never wrote music for the mainstream. I think I was incredibly fortunate that the song crossed over and people connected with it.
"You don't want a song to be bigger than yourself. I mean, do you? Maybe you do. I don't know. I guess I'll find out."
- TimeOut
