Sophie Leigh McBurnie (born 14 March 1999), known professionally as Piri, is an English musician. Born in Rochdale, she is half of the band Piri & Tommy and an original member of the female and genderqueer collective Loud LDN.
Three of her works as half of Piri & Tommy have entered the UK charts: their 2021 single "Soft Spot" reached No. 20 on the UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart, their 2022 single "On & On" went to No. 99 on the UK Singles Chart, and their 2022 mixtape Froge.mp3 made No. 13 on the UK Dance Albums Chart. "Soft Spot" was ranked No. 59 on Rolling Stone's "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in July 2022, while their 2022 works "Words", "On & On", and Froge.mp3, and their cover of Charli XCX and Kim Petras's "Unlock It" all appeared on year-end best-of lists. In addition, she co-wrote the Illit song "Magnetic", which charted at No. 80 on the UK Singles Chart, and has been named as an influence by Caity Baser.
Life and career
1999–2020: Early life
Piri was born Sophie Leigh McBurnie on 14 March 1999 and grew up in Rochdale in Greater Manchester.[a] Her parents were an Asda manager and a human resources manager.[5] While growing up, Piri composed songs on her guitar as a means of expression[6]:64–67 and often listened to Arctic Monkeys, Mary J. Blige, and later the Ting Tings and Owl City.[7]:8:57 Towards the end of sixth form, she became obsessed with K-pop boy bands including Exo, and then K-pop girl groups such as Blackpink, Red Velvet, and Twice.[7]:10:29 Her stage name, which she shortens from Pirickili[8]:51:18 and stylises in lowercase,[9] was created for a Tumblr account and had been suggested to her by a random word generator.[10]:5:06
She studied chemistry at Lancaster University[1] and also learned Mandarin Chinese for extra credit.[11] During her studies, she idolised the swagger of Doja Cat and Red Velvet[12] and joined the university's pole fitness society.[8]:53:00 After graduating, Piri had intended to take a year away from education and then undertake a master's degree.[1] In May 2020, after finding herself owing her overdraft £2,000 and a friend £800, and that part-time shifts at Asda were failing to clear her debt,[b] she began uploading content to OnlyFans,[7]:44:55 a subscription-based social media platform. By August, she had uploaded footage of herself masturbating.[13] She told The Times in November 2022 that her account had "about 1,000 to 2,000 fans paying about $12 a month",[c] which after the site had deducted its fees meant she earned "between $10,000 and $20,000 a month".[5] She used the proceeds to fund her music career and move to north London.[5]
Their second single, "Soft Spot", went viral on TikTok and Spotify[22] after Piri paid several TikTok creators to use it in their videos and asked for assistance from the online community Manchester Student Group.[5] They then followed this with a re-release of the song on EMI[23] and with the singles "Beachin" and "Words".[e] The band had signed to Polydor Records by June 2022,[26] by which time Piri had become an original member of the female and non-binary collective Loud LDN.[27] Piri & Tommy subsequently released the single "On & On"[28] and signed individual publishing record deals in September 2022, Piri with Warner Chappell Music.[29] The band released in October the mixtape Froge.mp3,[30] which was promoted with Froge.tour[31] and took its name from a nickname the pair gave each other on account of Piri being in a phase of drawing frogs and toads when they met.[32]
The band were featured on multiple "ones to watch" lists between November 2022 and January 2023[33][34][35] including the BBC's Sound of 2023;[36] around this time, they released a cover of Charli XCX and Kim Petras's "Unlock It" in November 2022.[37] The band split up a week after the end of Froge.tour,[7]:44:25 though did not announce their breakup until January[38] or talk to each other until April.[7]:44:25 During this period, Piri uploaded several solo compositions to her SoundCloud account[4] and Piri & Tommy featured with Villiers on MJ Cole's song "Feel It"[39] and released their own "Updown".[40]
Piri was one of three cover stars of Polyester magazine in April 2023, having been chosen by the magazine's editor Ione Gamble as an example of a woman who had used the internet to her advantage.[41] After Piri & Tommy released "Nice 2 Me",[42] they ended their contract with Polydor and then released "Lovergirl",[43]:1:19:39 "Bluetooth", and "Christmas Time".[44] After remixing Lucy Tun's "Come to My House", they released the November 2024 EP About Dancing, which was preceded by the singles "99%" and "Dog",[45] and the November 2025 EP Magic!, which was preceded by the singles "Someone" and "Miss Provocative".[46][47][48]
Piri performing in London, 2024
In 2023, Piri featured on drum and bass songs by Sudley ("Fumble"),[49] Maisi ("Head"),[50] and New York City–based producer Tomcbumpz ("C U Never").[51] She featured on Charlieeeee's "Easy" in January 2024,[52] and co-wrote Illit's "Magnetic", which appeared on their March 2024 EP Super Real Me.[53] She then featured on "Luv Stuck", a track on Salute's True Magic,[54] "Going On", a track by Young Franco and MC DT[55] from his album It's Franky Baby,[56] and "Body Language", a track by Omar+.[57] Following a February 2025 speech by Chappell Roan at that year's Grammy Awards, she pledged $2,500 to support struggling artists.[58] The following month, she featured on a remix of Ellie Dixon's "Guts".[59]
Artistry and personal life
Piri has stated that PinkPantheress's use of drum and bass breaks was massively influential on her own sound.[60] "On & On" was likened by Alison Craig of The Forty Five to PinkPantheress's works[61] and AllMusic's Paul Simpson compared Froge.mp3 to PinkPantheress's 2021 mixtape To Hell with It.[62] Piri has also cited musical inspiration from the success of Nia Archives and Charli XCX, and from the experimentalism of Sophie.[63]:0:22 She has credited Archives and Yunè Pinku for inspiring her to be a music producer.[64] In addition, she has also named Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat as role models for femininity[63]:4:59 and Charli XCX, Doja Cat, and burlesque routines featuring pole dancing as inspiration for her post–Piri & Tommy performances.[6]:64 Additionally, when "It's a Match" came out, Anna Runa Umbrasko of Safe and Sound noted that Piri's sound had been "inspired by artists like Doja Cat and Dua Lipa".[20] In an interview with Ticketmaster in August 2023, Caity Baser cited Piri when asked who her inspirations were.[65]
Petridis noted that Piri sings in an "unaffected, untutored" voice,[66] while Matthew Perpetua said in a Fluxblog review of "Beachin" that she "sings with very modern English R&B inflections – a lot of restraint and no showy runs, but with an elegant soulfulness in smaller moments".[67] Reviewing "Luv Stuck", Margaret Farrell of Pitchfork described Piri sung with a "cherubic tone".[54] When "Soft Spot" came out, Cat Zhang of Pitchfork compared Piri's voice to that of Ariana Grande,[22] and when Kenya Grace entered the UK Singles Chart with "Strangers", the Official Charts Company described her voice as a combination of those of Piri, PinkPantheress, and Charli XCX.[68]
Runa Umbrasko likened Piri's "soft songwriting and innocent, kawaii aesthetic elements" to those of "a Manchester version of Clairo".[20] Piri told Notion in March 2022 that she usually wrote about whatever was on her mind at the time, and that many of Piri & Tommy's tracks acted as snapshots of their relationship.[69] That July, Nieve McCarthy of Dork wrote that Piri's songwriting focused on "relevant, universal experiences" and had "a no-messing-about attitude".[70] Cyclone Wehner of Australian music magazine Purple Sneakers wrote in October 2023 that Piri "blends airy female vocals, syncopated breakbeats and the sonic aesthetics of Timbaland's '90savant'n'B, UKG, liquid funk and hyperpop".[71]
According to The Times in November 2022, she had over 419,000 followers on TikTok.[5] She uses her account to upload videos of her dancing to her songs,[5] and of her pole dancing.[6]:67Vice reported in May 2022 that was uploading an average of two videos per day.[72] In January 2024, Safi Bugel of The Guardian noted that Piri's crew for her solo live show comprised entirely "women, non-binary and LGBTQ+ people", and that she was urging other artists to follow suit.[64]
Awards and accolades
Piri has been nominated for a number of awards and accolades. "Soft Spot" was listed at No. 59 on Rolling Stone's "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in July 2022, and Piri & Tommy's works "Words", "On & On", Froge.mp3, and "Unlock It" have all appeared on year-end best-of lists.
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