Kim Petras Featured As 2023 SI Swimsuit Cover Model

The German pop singer is the first openly transgender woman to win a Grammy Award.

German pop singer Kim Petras has been named one of the four cover models for the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

As a transgender woman, Petras has become an icon in the LGBTQ+ community. She opened up to SI Swim about the “pressure” she feels to represent the trans community at times. You can watch her whole discussion about the topic by clicking here.

Petras emerged on the the scene back in 2017 when she released her first song, “I Don’t Want It at All.” The 30-year-old has continued to make music since then.

Her popularity has skyrocketed in the past year, as she was featured on Sam Smith’s “Unholy,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in October 2022.

View Kim Petras’s full 2023 SI Swimsuit gallery here.

The song ended up earning Petras and Smith a Grammy Award for Best Pop Group/Duo Performance. Petras became the first openly transgender woman to win a Grammy. The duo performed the hit song during the awards show, and the performance went viral afterward.

Kim Petras is one of four cover models for the 2023 SI Swimsuit issue :: Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Petras’s most recent song, “Alone,” features rap superstar Nicki Minaj. Petras is currently signed with Republic Records.

“The Grammy-winning pop star, a beacon of inspiration for the LGBTQ+ community, has blazed her own path to superstardom, but it has been anything but a straight line,” SI Swimsuit editor in chief MJ Day said.

Petras emphasized in her interview with SI Swim that she doesn’t want to just be seen for her gender and sexuality, but instead for the art she creates and how she hopes she can inspire people.

Click here to purchase this year’s issue.