I was shocked to hear that one of my favorite rising pop producers and artists SOPHIE has died from an accidental fall.
According to statements by both Sophie’s record label, Transgressive, and publicist, Ludovica Ludinatrice, Sophie was in Athens, Greece, and “climbed up to watch the full moon” and then “slipped and fell,” dying at 4 a.m. local time.
A police spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press that Sophie fell from the balcony of an apartment and that no foul play was suspected in the artist’s death.
The visionary musician — who made history as one of the three first openly transgender women to be nominated for a Grammy, and according to Pitchfork preferred not to use gendered or nonbinary pronouns — was 34 years old.
Here’s what she told Paper magazine in a 2018 interview about trans identity:
”An embrace of the essential idea of transness changes everything because it means there’s no longer an expectation based on the body you were born into, or how your life should play out and how it should end. Traditional family models and structures of control disappear… For me, 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. On this earth, it’s that you can get closer to how you feel your true essence is without the societal pressures of having to fulfill certain traditional roles based on gender. It means you’re not a mother or a father — you’re an individual who’s looking at the world and feeling the world. And it’s somehow more human and universal.”
The Scottish artist also pushed the boundaries of pop and electronic music through her groundbreaking art and fusing bizarre noises into trance, house, techno, and pop.
She has worked with the likes of Madonna, Charli XCX, Kim Petras, and even worked on some tracks with Lady Gaga for her Chromatica album, but those songs didn’t make the cut.
Artists such as Arca, Sam Smith, Jack Antonoff, Rina Sawayama, Nile Rodgers, Peaches and Christine from Christine and the Queens, as well as fans from around the world are sending their condolences to SOPHIE, and her mark on the music world will definitely be missed.
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