Who Is PinkPantheress? Artist Behind Viral Song 'Illegal' Wins Chess Grand Slam

PinkPantheress is once again taking over our social media feeds, as her latest release Illegal has become an earworm we cannot get enough of. The British pop singer, known for her other hit tracks like Boy's a liar Pt. 2 (ft. Ice Spice) and Pain, holds the secret to creating music that can effortlessly go TikTok-viral or live on the tip of your tongue before you realise it. However, the internet was stunned to see a whole new side of the musical sensation: her chess mastery.

PinkPantheress recently announced on social media that she has won an under25 chess grand slam. The competition was in Bromley, where she won the under 25s Grand Slam. The best part is that the story behind her victory lies in her family tree. PinkPantheress, whose real name is Victoria Beverley Walker, is the niece of celebrated British chess player Susan Lalic.

PinkPantheress posted about her lineage on X. 

i don’t mention the chess lineage that runs in my family enough girl

— pinkpantheress (@pinkpantheress2) July 3, 2025

PinkPantheress' chess lineage

In a Reddit 'ask Me Anything' post, PinkPantheress once shared that if she weren’t a music artist, she’d be a pro chess player. Her aunt, Susan Lalic dominated British women’s chess in the 80s and 90s, winning five national titles and representing England at nine Chess Olympiads. Born in 1965, she played top board for over a decade.

Lalic won the Woman’s Grandmaster title in 1985, and the International Master title in 1996, when she was one of only a handful of women to do so. Her impressive peak rating of 2405 is higher than 99.9% of chess players in the world, according to The Tab. No wonder her 24-year-old niece PinkPantheress casually grabbed that win in style!

So who really is PinkPantheress?

"My name is Pink and I'm really glad to meet you... Ooooo, is this illegal" Ring a bell?

Born on April 19, 2001, PinkPantheress belongs to Kenyan and English heritage. She grew up in Kent and took piano lessons as a child. At age 14, she joined a rock band and performed at school events. She revealed in 2022 that she suffers from gradual hearing loss, and is 80% deaf in her right ear. She said that voices sound "mostly like bass" to her.

PinkPantheress' stage name was initially just her TikTok username. She thought of it while watching the British game show The Chase, when the host asked about what a female panther was called. She added the 'Pink' part inspired by The Pink Panther film series. Her music can be described as a blend of peppy, lo-fi, and Y2K elements. 

Career

PinkPantheress went to University of the Arts London but dropped out in 2022 to focus on her music career soon after she blew up online. Her virality began when she started posting self-produced songs on SoundCloud and TikTok. Her first viral song was Just a Waste, which used the instrumental from Michael Jackson's song Off the Wall. 

In 2021, a snippet of PinkPantheress's song Just for Me became viral and earned nominations to an iHeartRadio Music Award, an Ivor Novello Award, and two NME Awards. In October that year, she released her debut mixtape called To Hell With It, which topped charts. That month, she also had her first live performance in London. 

In January 2022, PinkPantheress was announced as the winner of BBC's Sound of 2022 poll. In 2024, PinkPantheress won 'Producer of the Year' at the Billboard Women in Music. She has also been nominated for other coveted awards. PinkPantheress has worked with several other popular musicians like Beabadoobee, Ice Spice, Olivia Rodrigo, and Halsey.