Sophie, the Grammy-nominated Scottish disc jockey, producer and recording artist who had worked with the likes of Madonna and Charli XCX, has died following an accident in the Greek capital of Athens. She was 34.
The musician, whose full name was Sophie Xeon, died in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to a statement from U.K. label Transgressive.
“Tragically, our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident,” the statement said. “True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell.”
Sophie, who was born in Glasgow, began releasing music in 2013 and worked with Vince Staples as well as Charli XCX and Madonna.
She first used her own image and vocals for the October 2017 single “It’s Okay To Cry.” The recording paved the way for Sophie’s debut album, “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides.” Released in June 2018, it received a Grammy nomination for best dance/electronic album.
With her Grammy nomination, Sophie made history as both one of the first openly transgender artists to be nominated in the dance/electronic music category and one of three openly transgender women to ever be nominated for a Grammy, according to Paper Magazine.
Tributes have poured in from across the LGBT community as well as from many others in the music industry for an artist widely considered one of the most pioneering in the music industry.
French singer/songwriter Christine and the Queens described Sophie as a “stellar producer, a visionary, a reference,” who rebelled against “the narrow, normative society by being an absolute triumph, both as an artist and as a woman.”
She added: “We need to honor and respect her memory and legacy. Cherish the pioneers.”
Grammy-winning composer, producer, arranger and guitarist Nile Rodgers shared his condolences in Twitter and praising the young artist.
“#RestInPower SOPHIE! You were one of the most innovative, dynamic, and warm persons I had the pleasure of working with at 2019,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee tweeted.
