Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Leigh-Anne Pinnock (born 4 October 1991) is an English singer and actress. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix, who were formed, and won the eighth series of The X Factor UK. As part of the group she won three Brit Awards—becoming the first girl group to win British Group. They also achieved nineteen top-ten singles and five number-ones on the UK Singles Chart, before going on hiatus in 2022. In 2021, she made her acting debut in the film Boxing Day.

As part of her solo career, Leigh-Anne has released the singles "Don't Say Love" and "My Love" featuring Ayra Starr. In 2023, she won Musician of the Year and Breakthrough Artist at the Glamour Awards and released her debut EP No Hard Feelings on 31 May 2024.

Leigh-Anne is noted for advocating for various racial issues and for racial equality, which earned her a National Diversity and Visionary Honour Award. Her documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power (2021), received critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Authored Documentary at the 26th National Television Awards.

Early life
Leigh-Anne Pinnock was born on 4 October 1991, to black mixed-race parents Deborah Thornhill, a history teacher, and John Pinnock, a champion boxer and was raised in a Caribbean household. Both of her grandfathers immigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s and entered interracial relationships. She lived in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. with her two older sisters Sian-Louise and Sairah. Sairah became her manager following Little Mix's hiatus in 2022. She has Barbadian and Jamaican ancestry and counts Jamaica as her second home.

Before joining Little Mix, she worked as a waitress at Pizza Hut and used to post her music on MySpace and Facebook. Her early experience of organised singing came when she joined a youth club and choir then run by Jay Blades, who later became a trustee of her charity The Black Fund that she founded in 2021. In 2020, Pinnock spoke out about the first time she experienced racism at the age of nine, for a documentary that was later aired on Channel 4.

2011–2022: Career beginnings and Little Mix
Pinnock auditioned as a soloist for the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011. Her first audition was "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna. After she failed the first bootcamp challenge, she was placed in a three-piece group named "Orion" alongside Jade Thirlwall. Orion performed a rendition of "Yeah" by Chris Brown. Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson both were in another group called "Faux Pas". Faux Pas performed a rendition of "Survivor" by Destiny's Child. Both groups, however, were eliminated. Later, the four were called back by the judges and formed into the four-piece group Rhythmix, and they progressed to judges' houses. They reached the live shows and was mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos. On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group name had changed to Little Mix. On 11 December 2011, Little Mix became the group to win the series. They became the first girl group to make it past week seven of the live shows, the first girl group to reach The X Factor final and the first and only girl group to win the show.

As of 2022, Pinnock has released six studio albums and a compilation album with the group: DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018) Confetti (2020), and Between Us (2021). Pinnock shares songwriting credits for more than 50 songs, across Little Mix's six studio albums. She has co-written two UK number one singles with "Wings" in 2012 and "Shout Out to My Ex" in 2016. In 2019, she signed with Sony/ATV as a published songwriter. With the group, Pinnock achieved nineteen top-ten singles, five number-ones, and six consecutive top-five albums on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the first girl group to achieve this and the first girl group to spend a total of 100 weeks within the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. Since Little Mix's debut, they have become one of the best-selling girl groups and one of Britain's biggest selling acts. In May 2021, her documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power, was released on BBC iPlayer and BBC One to critical acclaim. It was centred around racial issues and colourism in the music industry and detailed her own personal experiences. It received a nomination for Best Authored Documentary at the 26th National Television Awards, and also won Documentary of the Year at the Visionary Honours Awards, Media Progress Moment at the Ethnicity Awards, and Best Documentary at the I Talk Telly Awards. In December 2021, the group announced they would be going on a hiatus to allow its members to pursue solo projects. That same month, she made her acting debut in the film Boxing Day, which she also recorded original music for. Pinnock Productions contributed to the production of the film.

2022–present: Solo career, EP, and debut studio album
In February 2022, Pinnock signed a record deal with Warner Records, and signed to TaP Music in March 2021 for her solo endeavours. In July 2022, she joined YouTube and Twitter, and began teasing solo music. In September 2022, she spoke at the One Young World Summit in Manchester. In December 2022, Pinnock uploaded a YouTube cover of "I Say a Little Prayer" which is featured in Boxing Day (2021).

In March 2023, Pinnock uploaded a cover of "Weak" by American R&B trio SWV onto YouTube. In the same month, she narrated The Little Mermaid for Audible UK. In April, she announced she would be releasing her first memoir, Believe, scheduled to be released on 26 October 2023. In the same month, she performed a cover of "ICU" by Coco Jones. In June, Pinnock announced her debut solo single titled "Don't Say Love", which was released on 16 June 2023 via Warner. On 11 June, she was featured on the cover of British Vogue. She was featured on the song "Running Away" from Jon Batiste's album World Music Radio, released on August 18, 2023. The same month she graced the cover of Rolling Stone.

On 7 September 2023, Leigh-Anne released "My Love" featuring Ayra Starr. On 15 September, Pinnock uploaded exclusive performances of "My Love" and "Don't Say Love" in partnership with Vevo. In October she was part of the BBC's Live Lounge line up and performed a cover version of "Paint the Town Red" by Doja Cat. On October 18, she appeared on the cover of Glamour UK and won "Musician Of The Year" at the "Glamour Women Of The Year" awards. In November, she attended the German version of the award show, in which she won 'Breakthrough Artist'. Leigh-Anne later performed at Children in Need and performed alongside Iza at the Afropunk Festival in Brazil.

In December 2023, she performed at Jingle Bell Ball and performed a cover version of "Last Christmas" by Wham! and later that month performed a cover of Boyz II Men "Let It Snow". She also graced the cover edition of Quem (magazine). in March 2024, Pinnock announced the release of a music project, separate from that of her debut album, called No Hard Feelings, which was released on 31 May 2024, featuring five tracks which "fit together in their own world". It was preceded by the lead single "Stealin' Love", where that same month she performed her first headline show in London and at Rock in Rio in Lisbon. In June she performed her own rendition of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" at the Royal Albert Hall.

Personal life
Pinnock has been in a relationship with professional footballer Andre Gray since 2016, after the pair met in Marbella. The couple moved in together in December 2018 and got engaged on their four-year anniversary in 2020. In May 2021, she announced that she was pregnant, and on 16 August 2021, gave birth to twins. The couple married on 3 June 2023 in Jamaica. In May 2024, Pinnock shared a video to her Instagram, which confirms both of the twins are girls.

Pinnock was attacked at a restaurant in London by a male customer in 2016. In December 2017, while performing with Little Mix as an opening act for Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman Tour, she suffered a burn backstage at one of their gigs.

Endorsements
In February 2015, Pinnock launched a Tumblr fashion blog called "Leigh Loves". She co-founded her own swimwear range in April 2019, titled In'A'Seashell, in partnership with her friend Gabrielle Urquhart. In same month she was announced as the new face of the sports brand Umbro. In April 2019, Pinnock signed to Sony/ATV via joint venture TwentySeven as a published songwriter. in October 2020, she launched her own production house named Pinnock Productions, to help embrace diversity and cultures that are under-represented in the media. In 2020, the singer released a style edit collection with ASOS, a British fashion retailer. In 2021, in partnership with her fiancé Andre Gray and sister, she launched The Black Fund, a charity to support existing charities and groups to deliver support to black communities including financial support. Pinnock is an ambassador for Maybelline New York, and in 2021 launched the "Brave Together" initiative in October.

Activism and public image
Pinnock is noted for her social justice advocacy; she speaks on issues including the Black Lives Matter movement, racial equality, colorism, feminism, and racism in the UK. To this end, she has shared her own experiences with racism as a child, as well as in the music industry. Early into her career, she refrained from discussing about these subjects over fears she would offend people and lose fans. In an interview with Glamour magazine, she spoke about her experiences with race and how she felt "invisible" for the first three years as the only black girl in Little Mix, while at the same time acknowledging her own privilege as a light-skinned, mixed-race woman. "My reality was feeling lonely while touring predominantly to white countries. I sang to fans who don't see me or hear me or cheer me on. My reality is feeling anxious before fan events and signings because I always feel like I'm the least favoured. My reality is constantly feeling like I have to work 10 times harder and longer to mark my place in the group, because my talent alone isn't enough. My reality is all the times I felt invisible within my group. Part of me is fully aware that my experience would have been even harder to deal with had I been dark-skinned. Our reality is no matter how far you think you've come, racism exists.

— Pinnock on the racism she has experienced throughout her career. In 2019, Pinnock attended Pride in London, marching alongside charity organisations Mermaids, Stonewall, and Black Pride, to advocate for trans and LGBTQ rights. She also attended the Black Lives Matter protests in London, and she has spoken out about the murders of African-Americans George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by American police.

In 2019, Pinnock (who is also known for her charity work), as well as other British celebrities, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day. In 2021, in partnership with her fiancé and sister Sairah, she launched a charity called The Black Fund, which supports existing charities and groups who deliver support to the black community, including financial support. In 2022, the charity co-funded two scholarships for young creative black leaders to expand their visions in Tokyo.

In July 2023, Pinnock was awarded an honorary doctorate from Buckinghamshire New University in recognition of her anti-racism and racial equality work.

Artistry
Pinnock cites Mariah Carey and Rihanna amongst her musical influences.

Tours

 * Leigh-Anne Live (2024)