Leigh-Anne Pinnock (born 4 October 1991) is an English singer and actress. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl groupLittle Mix, which was formed and won theeighth series of,The X Factor UK. As part of the group, she won threeBrit Awards and achieved 19 top-ten singles and five number one entries on theUK Singles Chart, before going on hiatus in 2022. In 2021, she made her acting debut in the filmBoxing Day.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock was born on 4 October 1991, toblack mixed-race parents Deborah Thornhill, a history teacher, and John Pinnock, a champion boxer, and was raised in a Caribbean household.[3] Both of her grandfathers immigrated to the United Kingdom in the 1960s and enteredinterracial relationships.[4] She lived inHigh Wycombe,Buckinghamshire,[5][6] with her two older sisters Sian-Louise and Sairah.[7] Sairah became her manager following Little Mix's hiatus in 2022. She hasBarbadian andJamaican ancestry[8] and counts Jamaica as her second home.[9]
Before joiningLittle Mix, Pinnock worked as a waitress atPizza Hut and used to post her music on MySpace and Facebook.[10][11] Her early experience of organised singing came when she joined a youth club and choir then run byJay Blades, who later became a trustee of her charity The Black Fund, which she founded in 2021.[12] In 2020, Pinnock spoke out about the first time she experienced racism, at the age of nine, for a documentary that was later aired onChannel 4.[13][14]
Pinnock auditioned as a soloist for theeighth series ofThe X Factor in 2011. Her first audition was "Only Girl (In the World)" byRihanna.[15] After she failed the first bootcamp challenge, she was placed in a three-piece group named "Orion" alongsideJade Thirlwall. Orion performed a rendition of "Yeah" byChris Brown.Perrie Edwards andJesy Nelson both were in another group called "Faux Pas". Faux Pas performed a rendition of "Survivor" byDestiny'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.[16] They reached the live shows and was mentored byTulisa Contostavlos.[17] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group name had changed toLittle Mix.[18] 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.[19][20][21]
Leigh-Anne performing as part of Little Mix in 2016
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), andBetween Us (2021). Pinnock shares songwriting credits for more than 50songs, 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 withSony/ATV as a published songwriter.[22] With the group, Pinnock achieved nineteen top-ten singles, five number-ones, and six consecutive top-five albums on theUK 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 theUK Singles Chart.[23][24] Since Little Mix's debut, they have become one of thebest-selling girl groups and one ofBritain's biggest selling acts.
In May 2021, her documentary,Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power, was released onBBC iPlayer andBBC One to critical acclaim. It was centred around racial issues and colourism in the music industry and detailed her own personal experiences.[25] It received a nomination for Best Authored Documentary at the26th National Television Awards, and also won Documentary of the Year at theVisionary Honours Awards, Media Progress Moment at the Ethnicity Awards, and Best Documentary at the I Talk Telly Awards.[26] In December 2021, the group announced they would be going on a hiatus to allow its members to pursue solo projects.[27] That same month, she made her acting debut in the filmBoxing Day, which she also recorded original music for. Pinnock Productions contributed to the production of the film.[28][29]
2022–present:No Hard Feelings and debut solo album
In February 2022, Pinnock signed a record deal withWarner Records, and signed to TaP Music in March 2021 for her solo endeavours.[30][31] In July 2022, she joinedYouTube andTwitter, and began teasing solo music.[32] In September 2022, she spoke at the One Young World Summit inManchester.[33] In December 2022, Pinnock uploaded a YouTube cover of "I Say a Little Prayer" which is featured inBoxing Day (2021).[34]
In March 2023, Pinnock uploaded a cover of "Weak" by AmericanR&B trioSWV onto YouTube.[35] In the same month, she narratedThe Little Mermaid forAudible UK.[36] In April, she announced she would be releasing her first memoir,Believe, scheduled to be released on 26 October 2023.[37] In the same month, she performed a cover of "ICU" byCoco Jones.[38] In June, Pinnock announced her debut solo single titled "Don't Say Love", which was released on 16 June 2023 via Warner.[39] On 11 June, she was featured on the cover ofBritish Vogue.[40] She was featured on the song "Running Away" fromJon Batiste's albumWorld Music Radio, released on 18 August 2023.[41] The same month she graced the cover ofRolling Stone.[42]
On 7 September 2023, Leigh-Anne released "My Love" featuringAyra Starr.[43] On 15 September, Pinnock uploaded exclusive performances of "My Love" and "Don't Say Love" in partnership withVevo. In October she was part of theBBC's Live Lounge line up and performed a cover version of "Paint the Town Red" byDoja Cat.[44] On 18 October, she appeared on the cover ofGlamour UK and won "Musician Of The Year" at the "Glamour Women Of The Year" awards.[45] In November, she attended the German version of the award show, in which she won 'Breakthrough Artist'.[46] Leigh-Anne later performed atChildren in Need and performed alongsideIza at theAfropunk Festival in Brazil.[47]
In December 2023, she performed atJingle Bell Ball and performed a cover version of "Last Christmas" byWham! and later that month performed a cover ofBoyz II Men "Let It Snow".[48] She also graced the cover edition ofQuem.[49] in March 2024, Pinnock announced the release of a music project, separate from that of her debut album, calledNo Hard Feelings, which was released on 31 May 2024, featuring five tracks which "fit together in their own world".[50] It was preceded by the lead single "Stealin' Love", where that same month she performed her first headline show in London and atRock in Rio in Lisbon.[51] In June she performed her own rendition of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" at theRoyal Albert Hall.[52]
In May 2025, Pinnock revealed she had partnered withVirgin Music Group as an independent artist, following her departure from Warner Records.[53] Two months later, she announced her new single, "Been a Minute", which was released on 18 July.[54] Another single, "Burning Up", was released a month later.[55] In October, she joinedSigala andJonita on the song "Hello".[56] Pinnock's debut album,My Ego Told Me To, will be released on 20 February 2026.[57][58]
Pinnock has been in a relationship with professional footballerAndre Gray since 2016, after the pair met inMarbella. The couple moved in together in December 2018 and got engaged on their four-year anniversary in 2020.[59] In May 2021, she announced that she was pregnant, and on 16 August 2021, gave birth to twins.[60][61] The couple married on 3 June 2023 in Jamaica.[62][11] In May 2024, Pinnock shared a video to her Instagram, which confirms both of the twins are girls.[63][64]
Pinnock was attacked at a restaurant in London by a male customer in 2016.[65] In February 2017, while performing with Little Mix as an opening act forAriana Grande’sDangerous Woman Tour, she suffered a burn backstage at one of their gigs.[66]
In February 2015, Pinnock launched aTumblr fashionblog called "Leigh Loves".[67] She co-founded her ownswimwear range in April 2019, titled In'A'Seashell, in partnership with her friend Gabrielle Urquhart.[68] In same month she was announced as the new face of the sports brandUmbro.[69] In April 2019, Pinnock signed toSony/ATV via joint venture TwentySeven as a published songwriter.[70] in October 2020, she launched her own production house namedPinnock Productions, to help embrace diversity and cultures that are under-represented in the media.[71] In 2020, the singer released a style edit collection withASOS, a British fashion retailer.[72][73] In 2021, in partnership with her fiancéAndre Gray and sister, she launchedThe Black Fund, a charity to support existing charities and groups to deliver support to black communities including financial support.[74] Pinnock is an ambassador forMaybelline New York, and in 2021 launched the "Brave Together" initiative in October.[75]
Pinnock is noted for her social justice advocacy; she speaks on issues including theBlack Lives Matter movement,racial equality,colorism,feminism, andracism 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.[76] In an interview withGlamour 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.[76][77]
"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.[78]
In 2019, Pinnock (who is also known for her charity work), as well as other British celebrities, climbedMount Kilimanjaro to raise funds forComic Relief'sRed Nose Day.[81] 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.[82][83] In 2022, the charity co-funded two scholarships for young creative black leaders to expand their visions inTokyo.[84]
In July 2023, Pinnock was awarded an honorary doctorate fromBuckinghamshire New University in recognition of her anti-racism and racial equality work.[85]
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