Groundbreaking Scottish producer SOPHIE died early Saturday morning after an accidental fall in Athens, Greece. SOPHIE was 34. The news was confirmed by her labels Transgressive and Future Classic who issued this statement:
“Tragically our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident. 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. The family thank everyone for their love and support and request privacy at this devastating time.”
SOPHIE’s love of electronic music began at an early age, attending raves with her father and listening to his old cassettes. SOPHIE first began DJing as a child as well, performing at weddings and birthday parties. In the early 2010s, SOPHIE began to emerge in the club scene and began to affiliate herself with the burgeoning label PC Music and produced tracks and collaborate with artists such as A.G. Cook, QT, and Palmistry. In 2013, SOPHIE made a major breakthrough with a string of singles, including “Nothing More To Say” and “Bipp,” to much critical acclaim.
The stir from these singles quickly led to major collaborations, including producing credits for Madonna, Vince Staples, Charli XCX, Le1f, and more. In 2015, SOPHIE’s singles were collected into the compilation PRODUCT. Throughout SOPHIE’s early career, the artist opted to keep their identity mysterious and oblique. SOPHIE’s first proper studio debut came in 2018 with Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides – featuring SOPHIE’s own vocals prominently.
It was during the promotion of this record that SOPHIE began to appear in front of cameras and visuals and came out as trans. (Ed. Note: As Pitchfork confirms, SOPHIE preferred not to use gendered or nonbinary pronouns.) The record received a Grammy nomination in 2019 for Best Dance/Electronic Album. SOPHIE’s last release came earlier this year with the raucous, mind-bending single “UNISIL.” SOPHIE had also debuted new music during a virtual DJ set in the summer of 2020.
In a short amount of time, SOPHIE proved to be one of the brightest visionaries in modern pop and experimental electronic music. Always pushing sonic boundaries, SOPHIE’s music reimagined pop music and left an immeasurable footprint on the artists SOPHIE worked with and the fans who found solace in her world-breaking, future-defining music.
Join us in remembering SOPHIE’s life and work by revisiting some of the artist’s music below.
