Portrait
Sophie
Born
1986Glasgow, Scotland
Died
30 January 2021Athens, Greece
Music producer and singerUnited Kingdom5th anniversary of death

Sophie

A visionary producer who pioneered hyperpop – and came out as a trans woman with a song called “It’s Okay to Cry”.

Sophie grew up in Glasgow and was fascinated by electronic music as a child. She began as a DJ and producer, and from 2013 released singles such as “Bipp” and “Lemonade” that sounded like nothing else: bright, bubbly, metallic synthesiser sounds that seemed to come from a futuristic toy factory. She is regarded as one of the pioneers of “hyperpop”.

At first Sophie remained anonymous, which led to speculation about who was behind the name. She produced for Madonna, Charli XCX and Vince Staples, among others.

In 2017 she released the song “It’s Okay to Cry”, with a video in which she showed her face for the first time. In interviews she said she was a trans woman. Her album “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides” (2018), with songs such as “Immaterial” about the freedom to be anything, was nominated for a Grammy and is regarded as a manifesto of trans identity in pop.

On 30 January 2021 she died in an accident in Athens, after falling while trying to watch the full moon. She was 34. Her influence on electronic and pop music has been enormous.

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