Google Doodle pays tribute to late trans star SOPHIE on her 38th birthday

Google has paid tribute to the late trans artist SOPHIE, whose real name was Sophie Xeon, through a Google Doodle icon

The trailblazing hyperpop artist is featured on Google’s home page, replacing the search engine’s logo to mark what would have been her 38th birthday.

Clicking on the Google Doodle widget opens a YouTube Shorts animation dedicated to Xeon with a remix of Immaterial from her flagship album Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides.

The singer-songwriter died on 30 January 2021 after falling from the roof of a three-storey building in Greece whilst trying to take a picture of the night sky.

Upon her death, artists and figureheads paid tribute to the musical pioneer and the “icon of liberation”, honouring her for her “distilled speed, noise, melody and clarity.”

Her legacy in popularising the chaotically maximalist genre “hyperpop” alongside artists like Charli XCX while working in the PC Music label cemented her as a pop music behemoth.

Songs such as “Faceshopping” became renowned for the captivating mix of percussive clangs mixed with Xeon’s soulful, elegant voice, whilst simultaneously addressing the commercialisation of beauty.

In the video’s description, Google wrote that the video celebrates SOPHIE’s “acclaimed experimental pop and electronic music.”

Comments replying to the video shared their own personal connection with Xeon’s music, with one saying they “never expected a Google Doodle to bring tears to my eyes.”

“The ability for humans to empathize with people they haven’t even met is kind of beautiful to me,” another said.

SOPHIE’s posthumous final album is coming later this year

A posthumous album by Sophie Xeon was announced earlier this year and is set to be released on 27 September, her label Transgressive Records revealed in June.

A teaser hit from the upcoming album, Reason Why – which features Kim Betras and BC Kingdom – was released on Spotify following the announcement.

Since then, several other tracks from the album, including Berlin Nightmare, One More Time, and exxhilarate have been released.

Speaking about the upcoming album, a spokesperson for SOPHIE’s family wrote that they had worked to bring the project “to fruition” and contacted several of her “dear friends” to help.

“Sophie didn’t often speak publicly of her private life, preferring to put everything she wanted to articulate in her music. It feels only right to share with the world the music she hoped to release, in the belief that we can all connect with her in this, the form she loved most,” the statement continued.

“Sophie gave all of herself to her music. It’s here that she can always be found.”

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