In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, SOPHIE explained: “I think all pop music should be about who can make the loudest, brightest thing.”
SOPHIE, the British producer who pushed the boundaries on electronic and pop music, has died in an accidental fall on Saturday morning (January 30), a representative has confirmed. SOPHIE, who was 34, died at roughly 4 a.m. in Athens, Greece. In a statement, the labels Transgressive and Future Classic wrote: “True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell. She will always be here with us.”
SOPHIE’s management added: “a pioneer of a new sound, one of the most influential artists in the last decade. Not only for ingenious production and creativity but also for the message and visibility that was achieved. An icon of liberation.”
The artist, who was born and raised in Glasgow, became a go-to producer for big names such as MADONNA in 2015, as well as frequently working with CHARLI XCX.
SOPHIE’s identity was a mystery to her fans for the first few years of her career. However, she used her voice and image for the first time on 2017’s song “IT’S OKAY TO CRY” and came out as a trans woman in the months following.
In an interview with Paper magazine, SOPHIE said: “Transness is taking control to bring your body more in line with your soul and spirit so the two aren’t fighting against each other and struggling to survive … It means you’re not a mother or a father – you’re an individual who’s looking at the world and feeling the world,”
Tributes for the pioneer have flooded in. Nile Rodgers wrote that she was one of the most innovative, dynamic and warm persons [he] had the pleasure of working with. Whilst BRING ME THE HORIZON frontman OLI SYKES, described SOPHIE’s work as “incredibly stimulating” and “pure proof that any genre can still be pushed in untapped ways”, ending with: “It was impossible not to be stimulated by Sophie once acquainted.”
RIP SOPHIE.