Leigh-Anne

Known professionally as Leigh-Anne, Leigh-Anne Pinnock has established herself as a leading pop and R&B vocalist through her foundational role in the British girl group Little Mix, winners of The X Factor. After delivering six Top Ten albums in the U.K. with the quartet, she launched her independent path via the 2023 single “Don’t Say Love” and the 2024 EP No Hard Feelings.

Born in 1991 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, Pinnock was raised in a household of Caribbean heritage. An early interest in performance led her to a local youth-club choir; during her teenage years she balanced work as a waitress with sharing vocal recordings on social media. In 2011 she entered the eighth series of The X Factor, where bootcamp producers assembled her with Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Jesy Nelson. Initially called Rhythmix, the foursome promptly adopted the name Little Mix and went on to win the competition.

With Little Mix, Pinnock released six albums that all reached the U.K. Top Five; five of them—DNA, Salute, Get Weird, Glory Days, and LM5—also charted inside the Billboard 200 Top 40, while 2020’s Confetti debuted at number two on the British albums chart. In 2022 she signed with Warner Records, issuing her first solo single, “Don’t Say Love,” the following year; it climbed to number 11 in the U.K. and was joined later that year by “My Love” featuring Ayra Starr. March 2024 brought “Stealin’ Love,” the lead track from her debut EP No Hard Feelings, which was produced with Ian Kirkpatrick, the Runners, and Albert Hype and later yielded the second single “Forbidden Fruit.”