Billboard’s Women in Music Awards featured a performance from Charli XCX of her unreleased song ‘So I,’ a tribute to the late producer Sophie.
Before Charli XCX began her performance for Billboard’s Women in Music Awards on March 6, the Grammy-nominated singer prefaced that her heart was beating “really, really fast.”
Singing an unreleased song called “So I,” presumably a track for her new album “Brat,” Charli said: “This song is about someone really, really special to me who is no longer with us,” and began crooning over a melody that references her late collaborator Sophie’s 2017 track “It’s Okay To Cry.”
Sophie died at the age of 34 in 2021 after she accidentally slipped and fell. The lyrics to “So I” reveal Charli’s strife with that grief: “You would say ‘C’mon stay for dinner’ / I’d say ‘No, I’m fine’ (Now I really wish I stayed).” The pair worked on various songs together, including Charli’s “Vroom Vroom,” but Sophie was best known for her solo work, specifically her 2018 album, “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides.”
After completing her performance, Charli accepted the award for Powerhouse of the Year and told the audience — which ranged from industry champions, including Executive of the Year Michelle Jubelirer, to stars including Katy Perry, Ice Spice and more — that she was incredibly nervous to perform since she proudly and openly uses autotune.
