Leigh-Anne Pinnock's journey to success: From Little Mix to solo music
She's released her second solo song
Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock, known simply as Leigh-Anne, has wowed us throughout the years since Little Mix formed. Now, despite the group being on a hiatus, Leigh-Anne is still working hard - signing a solo deal, releasing her debut single 'Don't Say Love', followed by 'My Love', and 'Stealin' Love'. The singer has also started to tease a new EP called 'No Hard Feelings', ahead of her debut solo album, and her first solo headline show.
Here, we take a look at some of Leigh-Anne's most amazing moments along her journey to success, from winning The X Factor with Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall and former member Jesy Nelson, to launching her own brands, releasing her festive film, Boxing Day, and releasing solo music, which she said she is enjoying.
Not only has she written some Number 1 songs, one of which even bagged a BRIT Award, she has also launched her own production house, Pinnock Productions, and won an Equality Award for their work towards racial equality in the UK. On top of that, she's even a narrator on Audible UK AND an author of her own memoir! Is there anything she can't do?!
Now take a look at Leigh-Anne Pinnock's amazing career:
2011 - Leigh-Anne Pinnock auditions for The X Factor
Prior to auditioning for The X Factor, Leigh-Anne Pinnock worked as a part-time as a waitress at Pizza Hut. In 2011, she chased her pop stardom dreams and auditioned for the show as a solo artist.
Leigh-Anne was soon put into a girl group along with Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson, originally named Rhythmix. They soon changed their name to Little Mix as they continued with the show.
2011 - Little Mix won The X Factor
On 11th December 2011, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson became the first group to win The X Factor, with Little Mix crowned the champions.
2012 - 'Wings' becomes the band's second Number 1
'Wings' became the band's second consecutive Number 1 single in the UK after 'Cannonball'. Leigh-Anne co-wrote 'Wings' alongside the rest of the group and other songwriters.
2015 - Leigh-Anne launched a fashion blog
In 2015 Leigh-Anne launched a blog called Leigh Loves. The fashion blog used to show some of the outfits Leigh-Anne and the girls would wear throughout the week.
2016 - Leigh-Anne started dating footballer Andre Gray
Leigh-Anne and Andre started dating back in 2016.
She made it Instagram official in January 2017 by posting a photo of him hugging her, with the caption: 'Gonna miss this one 💔'.
2017 - ‘Shout Out To My Ex’ won a BRIT Award
'Shout Out To My Ex' was another song co-written by Leigh-Anne, released in 2016. The song went on to become a Number 1 single in the UK and also won the group at BRIT Award for British Single of the Year, in 2017 fighting off competition from Calvin Harris, Coldplay and James Arthur.
2019 - Leigh-Anne climbed Mount Kilimanjaro
Leigh-Anne, along with her Little Mix pal Jade Thirlwall climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.
2019 - Leigh-Anne launches swimwear range In'A'Seashell
In 2019 Leigh-Anne launched her own swimwear range In'A'Seashell.
Leigh-Anne and Jade also signed to Sony's TwentySeven publishing group as songwriters in April!
2020 - Leigh-Anne and Andre got engaged
Leigh-Anne and Andre got engaged on their four-year anniversary, 28th May 2020.
The pop star also had a busy year with launching her own production house, Pinnock Productions, and a style edit collection with ASOS.
Leigh-Anne and Jade won an Equality Award for their work towards racial equality in the UK.
2021 - Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power airs
Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power, the documentary featuring Leigh-Anne talking about racial issues aired in May 2021.
In May 2021, Leigh-Anne and her sister launched a charity called The Black Fund. The charity works with existing charities to deliver support to the black community.
2021 - Leigh-Anne announced that she was pregnant
In May 2021 Leigh-Anne announced that she was pregnant, then in August the singer gave birth to twins.
Leigh-Anne also signed to Taps Music in order to concentrate on solo projects alongside her Little Mix work.
2021 - Guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK
On Thursday 21st October, Leigh-Anne appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race UK as a guest judge. The series featured many famous guests throughout, including Emma Bunton, Steps, Matt Lucas and Oti Mabuse.
Leigh-Anne's bandmate Jade has also been a guest on the show, appearing on the panel back in series one in 2019.
2021 - Boxing Day (film) is released starring Leigh-Anne
Leigh-Anne's film Boxing Day was released on 5th December. Not only did Leigh-Anne's Pinnock Productions contribute to the film, but the singer also stars in it.
The film is a festive rom-com from Aml Ameen who is making his directorial debut with an all black cast including Leigh-Anne, Aja Naomi King and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
2022 - Leigh-Anne announces solo record deal
In February 2022, Leigh-Anne confirmed she had signed a solo record deal with Warner Records UK, sharing their announcement with the caption: 'So excited for what's to come 😍🙏🏽'.
2022 - Leigh-Anne shares photos from Jamaica
Leigh-Anne shares photos from Jamaica as she confirms she's still working on new music. The singer can be seen with other writers and producers.
2023 - Even more studio snaps!
Leigh-Anne shared yet more snaps from the studio on her Instagram page in January 2023, writing: 'It's been a weird couple of weeks, getting used to certain life changes. Emotions flying.. but I'm excited for the year ahead... we been cooking up a storm 🎶😍'
2023 - Leigh-Anne narrates The Little Mermaid
On 23rd March 2023, Leigh-Anne announced some pretty special news alongside Audible! The singer revealed that she has narrated the original Hans Christian Anderson version of The Little Mermaid exclusively for Audible UK, with the book being available to listen to now.
Within her Instagram caption, Leigh-Anne said: 'Dina Gregory is such an incredible storyteller; reading her adaptation truly made me feel seen in a story I've been so familiar with as a child. There are so many themes within this now iconic storyline that feel so familiar to my own life and so my narration was inspired by not only my experiences but also my culture, my heritage. My hope is that people like myself can see themselves in this story too and I've enjoyed retelling this tale to my own children already 💕'.
2023 - Leigh-Anne announces debut memoir
Leigh-Anne has announced the release of her debut memoir, which is called Believe. The singer posted a video on her Instagram page showing her reading the book, which is out on 26th October and is available to pre-order now. Leigh-Anne's Little Mix bandmates, Perrie and Jade, congratulated her in the comments section.
2023 - Leigh-Anne releases her debut solo single
Leigh-Anne delighted fans by dropping her debut solo song 'Don't Say Love' on 16th June.
Speaking about her new music, Leigh-Anne told us: "I would love to sell out shows on my own. That would be a dream. Just to have fans, just for me I think is gonna be... Ah yeah, there's gonna be tears."
2023 - Leigh-Anne receives an honorary doctorate
In July 2023, Leigh-Anne received an honorary doctorate from Buckinghamshire New University in recognition of her anti-racism and racial equality work. She returned to her home town of High Wycombe to collect the accolade.
2023 - Leigh-Anne announces her second solo single 'My Love'
Leigh-Anne Pinnock announced her second single 'My Love' would be released on 7th September. The song features Nigerian singer Ayra Starr.
2024 - Leigh-Anne releases 'Stealin' Love' and announces an EP
Leigh-Anne released 'Stealin' Love' on 28th March, a new song which will feature on her EP called 'No Hard Feelings'. Leigh-Anne described her EP as a collection of songs which: 'While not part of my album, have helped inform my direction as a artist, a songwriter and a musician.'
2024 - Leigh-Anne announced her first solo headline show
Leigh-Anne will take to the stage for her first headline show since going solo in Lafayette London, a live music venue near Kings Cross.
Read more:
Leigh-Anne Pinnock's journey to success: From Little Mix to solo music
17 facts you'd love to know about Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock ✨
Fans cannot believe how alike Leigh-Anne Pinnock and her sister are 😍