Sophia Moore

    

Sophia Moore
Moore performing at the Euphonia Music Festival in 2019
Born	Sophia Laurie Moore 3 June 1998 (age 23) Phoenix, Maricopa, K.S.
Occupation	Singer songwriter producer
Years active	2012–present
Spouse(s)	Tony Chavez (m. 2018; div. 2020)
Musical career
Genres	Pop soft rock synthpop lo-fi
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar keyboards sampler
Associated acts	Troy Gideon Fusama Stephacide George Young

Sophia Laurie Moore (born 3 June 1998) is a Sierran singer, song-writer, and producer. Born and raised in Maricopa, Moore began her music career at age 14 with the rock band 4EVR, performing lead vocals and guitar. The band would only released one album before disbanding in 2014 and leading Moore to pursue a solo career.

At age 16, she would release her debut mixtape, Boundless Spirit (2014), for free on VidStream. The mixtape received rave reviews for what critics described as a "do-it-yourself album". Moore would sign a recording contract with Avocado Records in February 2015, and would collaborate with Grammy-award winning producer George Young for her debut album. The album's first single, "Same Old Love", would be released on 1 May, debuting at number 4 on the Sunset Hot 100 and being Moore's breakthrough hit. It would later be certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The second single, "Art Class", would be released on 25 September and debut at number 2, later being certified 4x Platinum.

Moore's debut album, Nocturnal, would be released on 3 November 2015, debuting at number 4 on the Sunset album chart and number 1 on the Commonwealth album chart, selling 206,000 album-equivalent units in it's first week. Described as a "fusion of baroque pop and lo-fi", the album would receive rave reviews from critics, later being certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA and ending up on numerous year-end album lists. Beginning on News Years' 2016, Moore would embark on the Nocturnal tour, performing at various venues throughout North America and culminating in a performance at the Euphonia Music Festival. In July 2016 interview with Music Box Magazine, Moore revealed the title of her second album as "Forever" as well working on other music projects. Moore would mark her return to music with the release of the single "Blank Space" on 5 August, which would become a smash-hit debuting at number 1 on the Sunset Hot 100 and later being certified 7× Platinum. It also held the biggest VidStream debut for a video ever, surpassing Q-Lo's 2014 song "Broken Glass" and later being surpassed by the Captain Sierra: Civil War reveal trailer on Christmas day; five months later.

In early 2017, Moore would release three more singles in promotion of her second album: "Just For Today" featuring Kayn on 20 January, which would subsequentlly become Moore's first international hit, debut at number 1 on numerous global singles' charts and later being certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA; "New Romantics" on 14 February, debuting at number 1 on the Sunset Hot 100 behind "Just For Today"; and "Pure Souls" on 31 March, which would debut at number 1 and later being certified 5x Platinum. The music video for "Just For Today" and "Wildest Dreams" would both consecutively hold the biggest VidStream debuts for a music video ever, though the later would be surpassed by the music video of Gabriel Korbin's "DAMNED." on 7 April.

Forever would be released on 20 April 2017, debuting at number 1 on the Sunset album chart and selling 601,000 album-equivalent units in the first week and being certified Platinum by the RIAA in June of that year. The album would later be certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA in February 2020. Working with electronic producers such as Fusama and Noisi, Forever would incorporate elements of electronic pop, synth-pop, and new wave, receiving critical acclaim. The Forever Young tour in support of the album would last from 7 May to 9 December, spanning shows across North and South America, as well as Europe and Oceania. On 6 January 2018, Moore would release the music video for the single "My World", as well as announcing on Bubbler the release of her second mixtape, A Love Letter To You. Released less than a week following announcement, A Love Letter To You would be released on 12 January, debuting atop global charts, selling 225,000 album-equivalent units in the first week and later being certified 3× Platinum. Moore would later describe the mixtape as "[her] rock record". Her third studio album, Love, Sophia, was released on 11 June, 2021.

Moore has received many accolades over the course of her career, including 13 Percy Awards, seven Trident Awards, nine Sunset Music Awards, a Brit Award, 11 VOD Music Awards, and eight CD1 Awards. In 2016, VOD named her the "Princess of Pop". The Porciúncula Times named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. In 2018, she received the Sierran Generational Icon Award. Two of her studio albums have been listed in Sierra Media's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020).

Early life and education

Moore's childhood residence in Phoenix, Maricopa.

Sophia Laurie Moore was born on 3 June 1998 in Central Emergency hospital located in Phoenix, Maricopa, to Alexis Moore and Matthias Graves. Graves would later leave when Sophia was only two, leaving Sophia and her siblings to be raised by Alexis and their stepfather, Jonathan Hunt. Graves would later pass away in a car accident in 2002, when Sophia was four, though it wouldn’t be revealed to her until she was 10. Moore has three siblings: her older brother, Paxton Moore, who is a comedian, and her younger half-brothers, Aydin and Toby Hunt. Throughout Sophia’s youth, Alexis had worked as a high school music teacher while Jonathan worked as a graphic designer. Sophia began singing at age 5, often attending lessons taught by her mother and later taking professional lessons taught by Phoenix-native folk singer, Jakob Brennan, who would also teach Sophia how to play guitar. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Rock magazine, Sophia described Brennan as “unforgiving” but that “without him I wouldn’t do music. [Brennan] taught me everything, from singing to writing to making art in general.”

During her youth, Sophia attended the Joseph Stirling Elementary Academy, and upon the family's relocation to Porciúncula when Sophia was 10, would begin attending West Porciúncula Middle school. During her years in elementary school, she excelled in the arts, such as music and literature, writing poetry and lyrics while being homeschooled. She would later graduate in 2015 via Porciúncula High School's online curriculum with a 3.8 GPA.

Career

2012–2015: Career beginnings; Boundless Spirit and Nocturnal

Moore's first endeavor into music began when she was 12, forming the band 4Evr would Toby Miami, Martin Duringer, and Tyler Cotton. Moore would perform guitar and backing vocals, rehearsing in the school's music room following class and recording their early material with Miami's laptop. They would additional publish their recording sessions on VidStream under the account "4evr xD". In November 2013, the band would digitally release their debut album, Cherry Soda, though due to minimal success, the band would dissolve.

Upon 4EVR's breakup, Moore would record a five-track demo that she would send to various record labels in February 2014. Moore would later publish two songs from the demo on her VidStream account, "Bubblegum" and "Hold U". Originally from a four-track demo Moore had recorded in her youth, she would re-record the songs over different production. The song's would achieve small success within it's first month of release, with Moore releasing the other three songs from the demo and four additional songs as the Boundless Spirit mixtape. The mixtape's release would lead to a phone call from Bobby Lawson, the CEO of music label Avocado Records. While Moore's parents were her official representative, Lawson would recommend them to manager Flynn Doyle. Doyle's management history involving Edith Cox was a major draw for Moore, a big fan of the American singer-songwriter. In August 2014, Moore was signed to Avocado, and would feature on Alex Austin's song, "Boredom", from his second album. In October, Moore provided vocals for Nam Yi's song, "My Love," for her debut album, and it was during this session she first met producer George Young. Young who would go on to produce the majority of her debut album, Nocturnal.

Moore at the Redwood Arena for the New Again tour, March 2015.

Throughout early 2015, Moore performed as a supporting act for Alex Austin's New Again tour. On 12 December, Boundless Spirit would be re-released on streaming platforms, later being certified Gold. Supported by the single "Bubblegum", the mixtape would receive positive reviews upon release, with critics praising the record as a "do-it-yourself album". That same year, she became the recipient of the Sunset Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2015 in an annual poll of music critics by Sierra Media. In March 2015, Moore made her television debut, performing her then-unreleased song "Wait For Life" at the VOD Music Video Awards. Her performance was critically acclaimed, and the day after, Moore announced the title of her debut album as Nocturnal. The album's first single, "Same Old Love", would be released on 1 May, debuting at number 4 on the Sunset Hot 100 and being Moore's breakthrough hit. The second single, "Art Class", would be released on 25 September and debut at number 2.

Moore at 2016 CD1 Artists of the Year special.

Moore's debut album, Nocturnal, was released on 13 November 2015. The album was met with critical acclaim and debuted at number four in Sierra and number one in the United Commonwealth, selling 212,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Later that year, The Porciúncula Times listed Moore's single, "Art Class" among the top 40 songs of 2015. In a few months' time, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Sierra Media named her "Artist of the Year" for their 2015 Year-End honors. Sunset magazine stated of it: "Sophia truly has potential to become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her generation." Beginning on News Years' 2016, Moore would embark on the Nocturnal tour, performing at various venues throughout North America and culminating in a performance at the Euphonia Music Festival.

At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2016, Moore won the award for Best New Artist, in addition to the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Same Old Love", which was also nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Moore performed "Same Old Love" at the ceremony in a duet with Katalina Galloway. In April, Moore released a deluxe edition of Nocturnal which featured four-additional tracks. In late September, Moore's cover of Amelia's "Chasing Pavements", which she had performed on the Nocturnal tour, would be released on streaming platforms, peaking at number six in Sierra. During the 2016 CD1 Artists of the Year special, Moore performed a widely publicized duet of country-duo American Honey's "Need You Now" with Esteban Finch, which drew rave reviews and praise.

2016–2018: Forever and A Love Letter To You

Moore began working on songs for her second studio album, Forever, with production duo Toyari in May 2016. She would later enlist electronic producers Fusama and Noisi, as well as working with Percy-award winner producer Rory Ball. In June, she was featured in "Cheap Thrills", the third single from Losole's fourth studio album DREAM, which would peak at number 2 on the Sunset Hot 100. The album's lead single, "Blank Space", would be released on 5 August, which would become a smash-hit debuting at number 1 on the Sunset Hot 100 and later being certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA. It also held the biggest VidStream debut for a music video, surpassing Q-Lo's 2014 song "Broken Glass". Despite not attending that year's annual Percy awards due to "finishing the album", Moore would win Best Pop Solo Performance for the single.

Moore on the Forever Young Tour, 2017.

Throughout early 2017, Moore release three additional singles ahead of the album's release: "Just For Today" featuring Kayn on 20 January; "New Romantics" on 14 February; and "Pure Souls", which would all debut atop global singles' charts. Each song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Just For Today" and "Pure Souls" spending nine and four non-consecutive weeks atop. "Just For Today"'s music video broke records for most-watched music video on VidStream within 24 hours of release and fastest Vevo video to reach 100 million views, both of which were later surpassed by other artists. On Symphly, it became the fastest song to reach 100 million streams (10 days) and most-streamed song by a female artist in a 24-hour period, with 10.8 million streams, surpassing by her own song "Blank Space" (nearly 9 million streams). Forever was released on 20 April 2017, and debuted at number one on the Sunset 100 while receiving acclaim from critics. It broke the records for the largest streaming week for a pop album and for a female album in North America with 241 million on-demand streams. Later that month, it was announced that Moore would be headlining the Euphonia Music Festival and Big Smoky Valley Music and Arts Festival, where she became the youngest and the third female artist ever to headline Euphonia. Each performance took place om 26 June and 9 July respectively, while during the performances, Moore brought a number of guest artists to perform with her such Esteban Finch and Kayn, with each set receiving rave reviews.

Moore at the Euphonia Music Festival in 2018.

From July 2017 to January 2018, Moore would headline her second tour, the Forever Young tour, in promotion of her second album. Spanning four continents and nearly two-hundred venues, the tour was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $280 million in total revenue. Moore was named Sunset's Woman of the Year in 2017, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At the 2017 Sierran Music Awards, Moore received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. In 2018, Moore won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist. The video for "Pure Souls" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2017 CD1 Video Music Awards. At the 60th Grammy Awards in 2018, Forever won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Just For Today" won Best Music Video.

On 6 January, Moore would release the music video for the single "My World", as well as announcing on Bubbler the release of her second mixtape, A Love Letter To You. Released less than a week following announcement, A Love Letter To You would be released on 12 January, debuting atop global charts, selling 225,000 album-equivalent units in the first week and later being certified 3x Platinum. Moore would later describe the mixtape as "[her] rock record". In March, she would embark on an 11-show concert in Sierra in support of the mixtape, performing guitar live with a tour band consisting of Cassian King (drums) and Gary Skins (bass). Moore would be featured on the Blue Voyage's single "Far, Far Away", which would later be the lead single from their self-titled debut album, as well as being featured on the sixth-track "End Game" from Ed Sean's second album, 2, with Pluto.

2018–present: Withdrawal from public life and Love, Sophia

Main article: Love, Sophia

In December 2017, it was confirmed by news outlets that Hadley Clements had signed on as Moore's creative director and was to be executively producing her next album. In February 2018, Moore shared in an interview that she was working on her third album and described it as "the biggest switchup" she has ever done. Electronic producers like Swxxtxnxr and the Wolf Brothers were confirmed to be involved in the album's production. She worked with other singer-songwriters and producers such as Mojjo the Man, Fusama, and Margot Greene during the album's early sessions as well. On 2 March 2018, the single "Hit Me Where It Hurts" was released digitally, with the music video being released same day. The song debuted at number 2 on the Sunset Hot 100, later being certified platinum by the RIAA. That same day, Moore stated in a Bubbler live stream to preview new music and that she had finished "most" of the album and was already in the process of getting it mixed, though didn't give a release date. On 11 March, multiple songs from the album leaked on the internet, which led to the album being scrapped entirely. Following the leak, Moore denied any possibility for the material to be release, but later spoke positively of the experience, saying in an 2021 interview with the Porciúncula Times, "It could honestly happen to anybody, and I'm kind of glad it did because it made me want to do something that I hadn't done before so that people's expectations would be thrown into a volcano". She would also reveal in that interview that the album was finished by the time it was leaked, had a cover, and a week from the leak she was supposed to shoot music videos for it.

The Wolf Brothers (pictured) reportedly produced an early version of Moore's third album, though many of these songs were later leaked and the project shelved.

Shortly following the leak, Moore began recording new music with long-time collaborator Fusama for two weeks at the Plateau Studios in San Francisco City. During these sessions, Moore would try new sounds at the behest of Fusama, and initially wanted to make a "rock-disco fusion". On 8 April, sexual harassment and assault allegations made by Geneva Rice, Phoebe Turner, Haley Shepherd among others, against Moore's husband, Tony Nelson, would lead to Moore splitting from him and temporarily relocating all of her belongings to San Francisco City. It was reported by TMZ that Moore had filed for divorce only a day following these revelations, with her confrontational phone-call after the allegations being leaked online. Despite her divorce, she continued to record music, collaborating with Diana Scarlett to write new material. The sessions produced what Moore described as "a different pop artist's album", and she ultimately decided to take a hiatus from recording music altogether.

With the spread of COVID-19 and Sierran pandemic measures, Moore would move back to her parent's residence in Phoenix, Maricopa. On 3 May, news outlets like TMZ would report that on 21 April, Moore secretly had an abortion of her's and Nelson's unborn child. As a result, Moore would face heavy scrutinization by mainstream media, and with mounting pressure, Moore would flee from her parent's residence after it would be doxxed. In response to these controversies, Moore would post on Bubbler, "Why does everybody seem to love suicide?", which would lead to further controversy, though Moore stated this was meant in response to the death threats she had been getting. Following this, Moore would stop using her Bubbler account entirely, with Moore explaining that she needed a "step back" and that "there's nothing worse than seeing the people, you once idolized, scrutinize and criticize your personal life as if they were living it and knew everything about it".

Moore in 2022.

Following the loosening of travel restrictions upon the turn of the new year, Moore would relocate to Rosarito, with it being reported by local news that she had moved into the resort city sometime in February 2021. When later asked about the relocation, Moore replied that it was "to get away from all the noise so that I could make noise". She would later buy studio equipment online, building a small recording studio in one of her spare rooms and beginning production on her third album. Rather than pursue an alternative genre, Moore decided to "double-down on pop" and flew out numerous electronic producers to her home where they would party and record. The recording sessions for Love, Sophia lasted three months, from March to May, though certain tracks such as "Lucky" and "Reminds Me" had been written and performed prior since 2016, becoming fan-favorites without an official release. Stephacide, who produced eight out of the eleven songs, stated that the album was a "concept record", though didn't clarify when further questioned.

On 4 May, Moore made her return to social media, posting a picture from her recording sessions that had leaked in April with the caption "yikes". The following day, she would share a video taken at one of her parties that showed Moore alongside Wonderkidd and Lukeyz listening to music from the album, with Moore describing it as "crazy" and rolling a joint on a LP of her second album, Forever. The video would receive mainstream attention and controversy, with Moore posting "bruh" in response to a link on Bubbler that directed to a negative opinion piece on her from The Huntington Beach Post. On 22 May, Moore would posted "album is mixed :D", and on 28 May, posted three images that many fans and critics speculated to be the album's cover or alternatives, with the last picture being captioned with the album's release date. In promotion of her forthcoming album, Moore would do a cover shoot and extensive interview with Sierra Media. On 4 June, Moore would release the music video for the lead single from the album, "Lucky". The single would debut at number one on the Sunset Hot 100 though received polarizing reception over Moore's vocal performance and use of autotune.

Love, Sophia, Moore's third album, was released 11 June, to polarizing reviews from critics. The album incorporates a heavy electropop sound, with hyperpop, R&B and EDM influences. The album also marks the first use of autotune by Moore, with her describing it as "reaching places I can't". It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 602,000 album-equivalent units. The album topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Superior, with first-week worldwide sales amounting to two million copies. The album had sold over two million copies worldwide as of 2022. It spawned three other international singles, including the K.S. top-five entry "Reminds Me", and two top-20 singles—"Don't Deserve You" and "Bad Idea". Love, Sophia was nominated for and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 64th Annual Percy Awards in 2022. At the VOD Music Awards of 2021, Moore won four awards, including Artist of the Year and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.

A deluxe edition would be released on 10 June 2022, a day before the album's anniversary, which included an alternate cover which is an AI-generated image, as well as three new songs including the fan-favorite "Clique" featuring Amala, Prototipp and Daaaze, as well as a remix of "Reminds Me" featuring Drew Red and the late rapper Lil Coast, which would additionally be issued as the album's fourth and final single to radio stations a week prior to the deluxe's release.

Music and artistry

Edith Cox (pictured left) and Maria McDaniel (pictured right) were cited by Moore as key influences.

Moore grew up listening mainly to alternative rock, urban pop, and 1990s music, and says that Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was one of the first songs she remembers singing. Edith Cox and Katrina Black are her biggest vocal influences: "I love Edith Cox. She is literally my favorite human being on the planet. And of course Katrina [Black] as well. As far as vocal influences go, Edith and Bella pretty much cover it". Alongside them, Moore's other key influences include Maria McDaniel and Jeseira, with the former being the topic of Moore's 2018 song "Maria". Throughout 2017, Moore posted videos of herself singing songs from Jeseira's 1995 album Daydream on her social media numerous times. Moore credits Jeseira for "pav[ing] the way for me and also every other female artist" and admitted to being "obsessed with her entire discography".

She praised Yoko Ono's "intricate" song structure and named the band Les Mersneus as a childhood influence, admiring their ability to tell "a story when they play". Moore's music is generally pop though she has explored a variety of musical genres. While consistently maintaining a sonic pop sound, she has incorporated different genres of music as her career has progressed, and has worked with a wide variety of producers. Moore embraced baroque pop and heavy lo-fi sound in her debut album, her second album was described as synth-pop and new wave. Her third mixtape predominantly featured soft rock and indie rock record. Moore's latest projects explore an avant-pop direction; both Love, Sophia and mlywrld.zip contained elements of trap, R&B, experimental pop, synth-pop, electropop and EDM. She has co-written several songs for other artists with topics addressing a wide variety of themes such as love, heartbreak, independence, empowerment, self-love and moving on from the past. Moore has recently been described as the 2010s "Digital Princess of Pop" and has been critically praised for her artistic versatility.

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions							Certifications
		SA	UC	NA	UK	GER	SCA	FRA
Nocturnal	Released: 13 November 2015 Label: Avocado Records	4	1	9	12	—	—	20	RIAA: 3× Platinum BPI: Platinum MC: 2× Platinum RMER: Platinum
Forever	Released: 20 April 2017 Label: Avocado	1	1	1	2	10	15	12	RIAA: 5× Platinum BPI: 2× Platinum MC: 4× Platinum RMER: 2× Platinum
Love, Sophia	Released: 11 June 2021 Label: Avocado	1	1	1	2	2	3	1	RIAA: 2× Platinum BPI: Platinum MC: Platinum RMER: 2× Platinum

Mixtapes

List of mixtapes, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions							Certifications
		SA	UC	NA	UK	GER	SCA	FRA
Boundless Spirit	Released: August 2014 Label: Self-released	39	43	44	—	—	—	—
A Love Letter To You	Released: 12 January 2018 Label: Avocado	1	1	1	4	5	9	4	RIAA: 2× Platinum BPI: Gold ARIA: Gold RMNZ: Platinum