Piri

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]

In 2020, just before the second United Kingdom COVID-19 lockdown,^[15] Piri started dating Tommy Villiers after matching with him on Tinder,^[5] seeing a picture of him in his band on Twitter, and asking him out on Instagram.^[8]: 38:07 She bonded with him over a shared love of disco^[5] and later moved into his band Porij's student house in Whalley Range in Manchester.^[d] Villiers began writing with her as Piri & Tommy^[17] and later left Porij to concentrate on Piri & Tommy.^[18] Their debut single, "It's a Match",^[19] was released in March 2021 and initially credited to Piri.^[20][21]

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", "Words",^[e] and "On & On".^[26] The band released in October the mixtape Froge.mp3,^[27] which was promoted with Froge.tour^[28] and took its name from a nickname the pair had given each other on account of Piri being in a phase of drawing frogs and toads when they met.^[29]

The band were featured on multiple "ones to watch" lists between November 2022 and January 2023^[30][31][32] including the BBC's Sound of 2023;^[33] around this time, they released a cover of Charli XCX and Kim Petras's "Unlock It".^[34] The pair announced their breakup in January 2023^[35] but subsequently featured on MJ Cole's song "Feel It"^[36] and released their own "Updown".^[37] They then released the single "Nice 2 Me", which subsequently featured on EA Sports FC 24,^[38][39] followed by the singles "Lovergirl",^[40] "Bluetooth",^[41] and "Christmas Time",^[42] the November 2024 EP About Dancing and its singles "99%" and "Dog",^[43] and the November 2025 EP Magic! and its singles "Someone" and "Miss Provocative".^[44][45][46] The pair had broken up again by late January.^[47]

Piri joined the female and non-binary collective Loud LDN in May 2022^[48] and signed a publishing record deal with Warner Chappell Music in September 2022.^[49] In April 2023, Piri was one of three cover stars of Polyester magazine^[50] and was announced for an all-female writing camp held by SheWrites.^[51] She subsequently featured on Sudley's "Fumble",^[52] Maisi's "Head",^[53] Tomcbumpz's "C U Never",^[54] Charlieeeee's "Easy",^[55] Salute's "Luv Stuck",^[56] Young Franco's "Going On",^[57] Omar+'s "Body Language",^[58] and a remix of Ellie Dixon's "Guts".^[59] She also co-wrote Illit's "Magnetic", which appeared on their March 2024 EP Super Real Me.^[60]

Piri has stated that PinkPantheress's use of drum and bass breaks was massively influential on her own sound.^[61] "On & On" was likened by Alison Craig of The Forty Five to PinkPantheress's works^[62] and AllMusic's Paul Simpson compared Froge.mp3 to PinkPantheress's 2021 mixtape To Hell with It.^[63] Piri has also cited musical inspiration from the success of Nia Archives and Charli XCX, and from the experimentalism of Sophie.^[64]: 0:22 She has credited Archives and Yunè Pinku for inspiring her to be a music producer.^[65] In addition, she has also named Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat as role models for femininity^[64]: 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.^[66]

Petridis noted that Piri sings in an "unaffected, untutored" voice,^[67] 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".^[68] Reviewing "Luv Stuck", Margaret Farrell of Pitchfork described Piri sung with a "cherubic tone".^[56] 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.^[69]

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.^[70] That July, Nieve McCarthy of Dork wrote that Piri's songwriting focused on "relevant, universal experiences" and had "a no-messing-about attitude".^[71] 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 '90s avant'n'B, UKG, liquid funk and hyperpop".^[72]

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]: 67 Vice reported in May 2022 that was uploading an average of two videos per day.^[73] 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.^[65] Following a February 2025 speech by Chappell Roan at that year's Grammy Awards, she pledged $2,500 to support struggling artists.^[74]

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.