21 Facts About Piri

Piri was born Sophie Leigh McBurnie on 14 March 1999 and grew up in Rochdale in Greater Manchester.

Piri describes herself as a chronically online teenager, and would stay up all night playing Minecraft with people in other countries; she became interested in anime, through which she found J-pop.

Piri studied chemistry at Lancaster University, having first become interested in science in Year 5.

Piri had planned to take biology before falling in love with chemistry at A-level.

Piri was introduced to dance music around this time, and was in a tech house phase while writing her dissertation.

Piri struggled financially at university; her own parents' high income meant that she was only entitled to basic-rate student finance, and their debts meant that they were unable to contribute.

Piri told The Times in November 2022 that she experienced less backlash than she was expecting, and that her account had "about 1,000 to 2,000 fans paying about $12 a month", which after the site had deducted its fees meant she earned "between $10,000 and $20,000 a month".

Piri used the proceeds to fund her music career, buy a MacBook, Logic Pro, and a microphone, and move to north London.

In 2020, just before the second United Kingdom COVID-19 lockdown, Piri matched on Tinder with Tommy Villiers, a member of the band Porij.

Piri later moved into Porij's student house in Whalley Range in Manchester.

At the start of 2022, Piri became friends with Maisi, a London-based musician, who in May 2022 invited her to join Loud LDN, a collective Maisi and Coupdekat had set up for London-based women and genderqueer full-time musicians.

In September 2022, Piri signed a solo publishing record deal with Warner Chappell Music; after breaking up with Villiers in November, she uploaded several solo compositions to her SoundCloud account.

Piri later performed her "Piri Pop Up Tour", which included a show at London's Moth Club.

The magazine's editor, Ione Gamble, stated that she chose them as examples of women who had used the internet to their advantage, and that she found it "incredible to hear [Piri] speak so passionately about both [her music and OnlyFans] careers".

Piri has cited PinkPantheress as a big inspiration, saying that her use of drum and bass breaks was "massively influential" on her own sound.

Piri has cited musical inspiration from the success of Nia Archives and Charli XCX, and from the experimentalism of Sophie.

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".

Piri uses her account to upload videos of her dancing to her songs, and of her pole dancing.

Piri is noted for sharing her personal life with her followers more openly than past performers, which The Times described as a "refreshing change".

Piri used a June 2023 edition of Gauchoworld to note that this sharing was motivated by wanting her followers to understand her experiences.

Piri has been nominated for a number of awards and accolades.