We present a precise calculation of the dilepton invariant-mass spectrum and the decay rate for $B^pm to pi^pm ell^+ ell^-$ ($ell^pm = e^pm, mu^pm $) in the Standard Model (SM) based on the effective Hamiltonian approach for the $b to d ell^+ ell^-$ transitions. With the Wilson coefficients already known in the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy, the remaining theoretical uncertainty in the short-distance contribution resides in the form factors $f_+ (q^2)$, $f_0 (q^2)$ and $f_T (q^2)$. Of these, $f_+ (q^2)$ is well measured in the charged-current semileptonic decays $B to pi ell u_ell$ and we use the $B$-factory data to parametrize it. The corresponding form factors for the $B to K$ transitions have been calculated in the Lattice-QCD approach for large-$q^2$ and extrapolated to the entire $q^2$-region using the so-called $z$-expansion. Using an $SU(3)_F$-breaking Ansatz, we calculate the $B to pi$ tensor form factor, which is consistent with the recently reported lattice $B to pi$ analysis obtained at large~$q^2$. The prediction for the total branching fraction ${cal B} (B^pm to pi^pm mu^+ mu^-) = (1.88 ^{+0.32}_{-0.21}) times 10^{-8}$ is in good agreement with the experimental value obtained by the LHCb Collaboration. In the low $q^2$-region, heavy-quark symmetry (HQS) relates the three form factors with each other. Accounting for the leading-order symmetry-breaking effects, and using data from the charged-current process $B to pi ell u_ell$ to determine $f_+ (q^2)$, we calculate the dilepton invariant-mass distribution in the low $q^2$-region in the $B^pm to pi^pm ell^+ ell^-$ decay. This provides a model-independent and precise calculation of the partial branching ratio for this decay.
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