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Leigh-Anne Pinnock

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Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Leigh-Anne Pinnock in 2019.jpg
Pinnock performing in 2019
Born (1991-10-04) 4 October 1991 (age 29)
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • actress
Partner(s)Andre Gray (2016–present; engaged)
Children2
Musical career
Genres
Labels
Associated actsLittle Mix

Leigh-Anne Pinnock (born 4 October 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and member of the British girl group Little Mix. The band was formed on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, and became the first band ever to win the show. The band have since sold over 60 million records worldwide throughout their career, making them one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

Early life

Leigh-Anne Pinnock was born on 4 October 1991,[1] and was raised in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.[2] Pinnock is of Barbadian and Jamaican ancestry,[3] and her parents are both mixed race.[4] She is the daughter of Deborah Thornhill, a teacher at the Harlington Community School, and John L. Pinnock, a mechanic; they filed for divorce in 2009. She is the youngest of three children and growing up, she looked up to her two older sisters Sian-Louise Pinnock and Sairah Pinnock.[citation needed] Other than her sisters, she also spent time with her grandfather in Jamaica.[citation needed] Pinnock primarily attended Sir William Ramsay School, where she was . Then, she enrolled at the Sylvia Young Theatre School for a couple of years when she was eleven. Before joining Little Mix, she worked as a waitress at Pizza Hut.[5] Pinnock's early experience of organised singing came when aged fourteen 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.[6]

Career

Pinnock's first audition on The X Factor was "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna.[7] After she failed the first bootcamp challenge to progress through to the Girls category (solo females aged 16-24), Pinnock was then placed in a three-piece group named "Orion" alongside Jade Thirlwall. Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson were in another group called "Faux Pas". Both groups, however, were eliminated. Later, the four were called back by the judges to form into the four-piece group Rhythmix, and they progressed to judges' houses.[8] They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos.[9] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the band's new name would be Little Mix.[10][11][12] On 11 December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first band ever to win the show.[13] As of 2020, Pinnock has released six albums with the band: DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018), and Confetti (2020).[14]

In February 2015, Pinnock launched a Tumblr fashion blog called "Leigh Loves".[15] In April 2019, Pinnock, alongside Thirlwall, signed to Sony/ATV via joint venture TwentySeven as published songwriters.[16] Later that month, Pinnock began her own swimwear range with Gabrielle Urquhart, titled In'A'Seashell.[17][18][19] She also became the new face of the sports brand Umbro in March 2019.[20][21] In April 2020, it was announced that Pinnock would be launching a documentary with BBC, detailing experiences of racism and colourism in the United Kingdom.[22] In November 2020, Pinnock released a style edit collection with ASOS, a British online fashion retailer.[23][24] Later that month, it was announced that she would be making her professional acting debut in the upcoming Christmas film Boxing Day.[25] On December 2020, Pinnock won the Equality Award at the Ethnicity Awards, along with band member Jade Thirlwall; they were recognized for their work towards racial equality in the UK.[26]

On March 2021, it was announced Pinnock had signed to Taps Music to focus on her solo career; Pinnock stated her intent to pursue her solo projects alongside her Little Mix commitments.[27][28] In May 2021, Pinnock released her documentary "Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power" on BBC iPlayer and BBC One talking about racial issues and colourism in the music industry and her personal experiences.[29] The documentary has been nominated for a National Television Award for Best Authored Documentary. [30] In June 2021, Pinnock was announced as the new ambassador for Maybelline New York, an American cosmetic brand, and will launch the "Brave Together" initiative in October.[31][32]

On September 2021, journalist Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire release the book "Black Joy" wich includes a personal essay by Leigh-Anne, title "The Power Within: Finding Purpose in Raising My Voice".[33][34]

Personal life

From 2013 to 2016, Pinnock was in an on-off relationship with footballer Jordan Kiffin who she met at a release party for Little Mix's single "Wings".[35] In 2016, it was confirmed that she had begun dating professional footballer Andre Gray;[36] the pair became engaged on their four-year anniversary on 28 May 2020.[37] In May 2021, Pinnock announced that she was pregnant.[38] On 16 August 2021, she delivered twins.[39] In her documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop, and Power, she and her fiancé Andre Gray expressed their intent in helping the black community by using their platforms. On 14 May 2021, Pinnock, in partnership with her fiancé and sister Sairah, launched a charity called The Black Fund. The charity is made to support existing charities and groups who deliver support to the black community, including financial support. [40][41]

In 2019, Pinnock and Thirlwall, along with other British celebrities, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.[42] In an interview with Glamour magazine in March 2019, Pinnock opened up about dealing with racism and comments on Twitter while feeling "invisible" for the first three years as the only black girl in Little Mix.[43]

There comes a point in every black human’s life, no matter how much money you have or what you have achieved, you realise racism does not exclude you. Nine years ago, after joining Little Mix, I had the biggest awakening of my life. When we were filming "Wings", we worked with [choreographer] Frank Gatson. He said to me, 'You’re the black girl, you have to work 10 times harder.' Never in my life had someone told me I would need to work harder because of my race. Later on, what Frank Gatson said made sense. I learned that the dream of being in the biggest girl band in the world came with its flaws and consequences. My reality was feeling lonely while touring predominantly 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.[44]

Discography

Main articles: Little Mix discography and list of songs

Songwriting credits

List of songwriting credits, with year released and album shown
Title Artist(s) Year Album Notes
"Change Your Life" Little Mix 2012 DNA Co-writer
"DNA"
"Wings"
"How Ya Doin'?"
"Little Me" 2013 Salute
"Move"
"Salute"
"Pretty Girls" Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea 2015 Non-album single
"Shout Out to My Ex" Little Mix 2016 Glory Days
"Joan of Arc" 2018 LM5
"One I've Been Missing" 2019 Non-album single
"Break Up Song" 2020 Confetti
"Holiday"
"Heartbreak Anthem" Little Mix, Galantis, and David Guetta 2021 Non-album single
"Love (Sweet Love)" Little Mix Between Us

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2011 The X Factor Contestant Winner, Series 8 [45]
2017 Glory Days: The Documentary Herself Tour documentary [46]
2019 Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out Herself Documentary [47]
Celebrity Gogglebox Herself One episode [48]
Eat in with Little Mix Herself Web series [49]
2020 Served! with Jade Thirlwall Guest Episode: "Rainbow Realness" [50]
The Talk Herself Channel 4 documentary [51]
MTV Generation Change: Black Lives Matter Herself MTV documentary [52]
Little Mix The Search Judge Music competition series [53]
2020 MTV Europe Music Awards Host Also a performer [54]
How to Be Anne-Marie Herself Documentary [55]
LM5: The Tour Film Herself Concert film [56]
2021 The Voice UK Herself Guest mentor [57]
Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power Presenter Documentary [58]
Boxing Day TBA Film; post-production [59]
The Outsiders? Herself Documentary; post-production [60]


Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Little Mix
Year Award ceremony Category Nominee(s)/work(s) Result Ref.
2018 CelebMix Awards Biggest Inspiration Herself Nominated [61]
2019 Ethnicity Awards Influencer Nominated [62]
2020 CelebMix Awards Biggest Inspiration Nominated [63]
Ethnicity Awards Inspirational Personality Nominated [64]
Equality Award Won [65]
2021 National Diversity Awards Celebrity of the Year Pending [66]
National Television Awards Authored Documentary Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop, and Power Pending [67]
Ethnicity Awards Media Progress Moment Pending [68][69]

References

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