[Music] should be mind‐blowing! Every single thing you hear should feel like you’ve never heard something like that before. Like it makes you feel alive in a new way. Like it makes you feel reborn.”

During the writing of this book, a potential interviewee, Sophie Xeon, stage name SOPHIE, died after an accidental fall from a balcony in Athens, Greece. SOPHIE was thirty‐four years old, a rising superstar in the world of experimental pop, and an unapologetic force for change in the music industry.

SOPHIE’s vision for the future of music was unequivocal.... In little more than a decade as a professional, SOPHIE ran hard at this goal, producing a sound that listeners could only describe as SOPHIE‐esque.

SOPHIE, who preferred not to use gendered or nonbinary pronouns, came out as a trans woman during the Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides tour. This chapter is a tribute to an artist who inspired a generation of LGBTQ+ club kids...

So begins our tribute to SOPHIE. We wish it had been possible for us to interview this wonder of a human being and that SOPHIE was still making music. 

(You can read the complete tribute in MUSIC MAVENS.)

Photo: Cover of SOPHIE's Grammy-nominated studio album, "Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides."

Quote: From Julius Pristauz, “SOPHIE,” Glamcult, issue 129, 2018.