SOPHIE, Boundary-Breaking Trans Pioneer, Has Died at Age 34

Music and queer communities are mourning the death of SOPHIE, an electronic music pioneer after news broke that she died in a fatal accident. The Grammy-nominated Scottish producer was 34.

"It is with profound sadness that I have to inform you that musician and producer SOPHIE passed away this morning around 4am in Athens, where the artist had been living, following a sudden accident," management said in a release. "At this time respect and privacy for the family is our priority. We would also ask for respect for her fanbase, and to treat the private nature of this news with sensitivity."

"True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell," SOPHIE's U.K. record label, Transgressive, said in a statement. "She will always be here with us."

"SOPHIE was a pioneer of a new sound, one of the most influential artists in the last decade," the management continued. "Not only for ingenious production and creativity but also for the message and visibility that was achieved. An icon of liberation."

In 2018 Out named SOPHIE our Artist of the Year and she was one of four covers for our much celebrated Out100 issue. In it, Coco Romack told SOPHIE's story, of how initially she produced work while not presenting a public face. Her music video for her instantly iconic track "It's Okay to Cry" changed that.

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"This, clearly, was the moment that SOPHIE was ready to bare herself -- visually, emotionally, sonically -- and to fully embody her art as a singular entity," Romack wrote. SOPHIE told her that it was a time when 'everything aligned."

"My music is political, but talking about politics is boring," she said at the time. "I'd rather have a more emotional conversation through the music. You can say something more multidimensional. Pop music is the most relevant format we have to discuss anything. A song can have meaning to people anywhere, without any context."

Many have posted of the much-lauded performer's passing. Munroe Bergdorf, MNEK, Christine of Christine and The Queens, Rina Sawayama, and more.

RELATED | Out100: SOPHIE, Artist of the Year