Lana Del Rey
Music Style
indiefemale vocalistsindie poppopalternative
About Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–1960s Americana. With hints at old Hollywood and being young and free, she creates whatever world she wants with some of the best songwriting of the century. She has said she is heavily influenced by some greats, including Britney Spears, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Nirvana. She has created and amassed a cult following of young fans with her niche and recognizable sound, inspiring a generation of new alternative artists. She has masterfully constructed a world filled with bikers and damsels, staying up til sunrise and living the American dream to the fullest. Throughout her impressive career, she has churned out masterpiece after masterpiece every time managing to create a whole new idea and experience with her songwriting and creative vision. She is one of the best-selling alternative female artists of all time and has nearly 44 billion streams on Spotify alone. She was Grammy-nominated for one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time Norman F*cking Rockwell! and is also known for her expansive catalog of unreleased songs leaked throughout the years. No matter how much criticism and controversy she seems to find herself in, she continues to always put her artistry first and make stunningly beautiful works.
Grant was born in New York City before moving to Lake Placid where she grew up. After struggling with alcohol throughout high school her parents sent her to boarding school for a few years. Once she left she moved in with her uncle and aunt on Long Island. This is when she started learning how to play guitar and sing. She started regularly playing at bars under the name Lizzy Grant and Sparkle Jumprope Queen while she was working as a waiter. During this period she recorded several unreleased demos and EP’s that she used to get noticed by a record label. Sometime in 2005, she recorded the folky Sirens album under the name May Jailer. A few years later in 2008 under the name Lizzy Grant, she signed to 5 Point Records and recorded an EP titled Kill Kill. In 2010 she released her full-length debut titled Lana Del Ray AKA Lizzy Grant exclusively for download that was later pulled from iTunes after financial issues with supporting the album. After getting noticed by what would become her new managers, Ben Mawson and Ed Millet, she switched record labels and moved to England in 2010 where she started working on her debut as Lana Del Rey.
She first gained popularity with her music video for the sultry and love-soaked song Video Games released in late 2011. It was released with a homemade video featuring random clips combined with filmed clips of Del Rey singing along to the song. The next single was the title track for her album Born To Die. This song is a perfect way to start off the album with an almost cinematic feeling to it when you first hit play. Following the success of these songs, she released her 2nd EP the self-titled Lana Del Rey in early January of 2012 to build anticipation for her big record label debut. Born To Die was released a couple of weeks later. It spawned the hit single Summertime Sadness which a year later had a Grammy-winning remix that is one of her best-selling songs of all time. The album is filled with catchy lyrics and clever wordplay that draws the listener in. It features motifs of old men she dated, dead exes, and realizing our mortality. It is a baroque pop album with a very hip-hop-inspired beat to it. Going from upbeat songs about living life to the fullest and being wild to slower songs about a past love she missed. Born To Die has gone on to be one of the most influential albums in pop music changing the course of it forever. It is also the second longest-running female album to be on the Billboard Top 200 with over 400 weeks and counting. Towards the end of the same year, she released her third EP Paradise. Promoted with the lead single Ride it has commonly been bundled with her debut album and sold as Born To Die - The Paradise Edition. It features a key part of her music, patriotism. She released a short film titled Tropico soon after that included three of the songs off of Paradise. An EP of the same name was available alongside the film with the three tracks. While she began to work on her next album she kept fans well-fed with a slew of singles including her biggest hits, Summertime Sadness Remix, and The Great Gatsby soundtrack Young and Beautiful. She also sang Once Upon A Dream for the Disney film Maleficent.
In 2014 she released her sophomore album Ultraviolence which was mainly produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 marking her first #1. She beautifully executed a sonic shift in her music to a much darker sound. This album started an entire generation of Tumblr sad girls. It was led by the hit singles West Coast and Brooklyn Baby. It also contains the electric guitar-infused Shades Of Cool along with a stunning music video telling the story of an old boyfriend of hers seeing the ghost of her wherever he goes. Ultraviolence dives deep into Del Rey’s abusive relationships with men and also alcohol. It includes a beautifully sung cover of Nina Simone’s The Other Woman.
After the success of Ultraviolence, she wasted no time in starting on her next album. Commonly referred to as her best era for aesthetics, Honeymoon was released in 2015. It was mainly produced by Del Rey, Rick Nowels, and Kieron Menzies. She referred to it as her “vanity project” and one she holds close to her heart. Despite being considered her “flop album” it is still one of the best works of her career. It was led with the single High By The Beach which addressed issues about paparazzi and just wanting to “get high by the beach”. Honeymoon is a very jazz-inspired album and also a return to the more baroque-pop of Born To Die and Paradise. With some of her most haunting lyrics, it features the cinematic Honeymoon title track as well as a tribute to David Bowie’s brother on Terrence Loves You. It is her most cinematic album and transports the listener to a beach in California on your Honeymoon or driving down a boulevard in Hollywood lined with palm trees.
After some time she announced that LDR5 was in the works. She released the lead single Love which was dedicated to her fans in February of 2017. The album titled Lust For Life came later in July. The album was produced mainly by Rick Nowels and Del Rey like her previous album. This album contained her first features on any of her projects on several different tracks. It is one of her more experimental albums and traced back to her debut album’s roots in hip-hop. She collaborated with rappers A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti on the track Summer Bummer. She collaborated with A$AP again on the track Groupie Love. The album also contains features with Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac and Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon. It is a very summery album with some of her most refined and perfected production. The next year she began work on her next album with herself producing as well as new collaborator producer Jack Antonoff who has worked with the likes of Taylor Swift, Lorde, and P!nk.
Norman F*cking Rockwell! was released in August of 2019 after a chain of singles. Featuring some of her most epic songwriting and vocals as well as a cover of Sublime’s Doin’ Time, it is her most critically acclaimed album and one of the most critically acclaimed albums in the world with a Pitchfork rating of 9.4, which is the highest score for a female artist this decade. It was her biggest debut on Spotify and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. It is one of her most cohesive albums and her fans like to say it is the album she truly found her sound with. It featured themes of feminism, love, and Americana, and encapsulated a perfect beachy summer vibe. It was nominated for a Grammy at the 2019 Grammys in two of the big four categories, Album of The Year and Song Of The Year for the title track. Post-NFR she released a few singles including Looking For America to raise money for a charity, a cover of Summertime - The Gershwin Version, and a Halloween-sounding soundtrack for Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark titled Season Of The Witch. She also released a book of poetry and a spoken-word audiobook titled Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass. In late 2020 she also announced a covers album of American classics that has yet to be released.
After various delays, she released her sixth full-length album Chemtrails Over The Country Club, originally titled White Hot Forever, in March of 2021. It was produced by Jack Antonoff similar to her last album as well as Rick Nowels who she worked with for Honeymoon and Lust For Life. The cover art features Del Rey and her friends gathered around a picnic table in black and white. This album sees her continue to grow and progress as an artist and shows her continue with an alternative sound similar to NFR! While also showing a new folk-inspired country side of Del Rey with the same genius songwriting. The album talks about friends and Americana as well as going into more serious topics. Featuring a very different song for Del Rey with new, rawer vocals we have never heard from Lana before, White Dress is a stunning song about her time as a waitress before her singing career. The album also contains a cover of Joni Mitchell’s For Free with Zella Day and Weyes Blood. Also in the album is an outtake that was originally recorded for Lust For Life, Yosemite. It highlights the same haunting vocals and lyrics as Lust For Life but seems to fit perfectly on Chemtrails as well. She also collaborated with Nikki Lane on this album on the track Breaking Up Slowly, which shows her first venture into country music.
In April of the same year, Del Rey took to Instagram to announce the release of another album Rock Candy Sweet. After months the project was never released and instead, three singles from another project were released. Blue Banisters, Textbook, and Wildflower Wildfire. The songs talks about an abusive relationship, taking solace in her friends, and finally a small clue as to why her relationship with her mother is so strained. Finally, she announced LDR8 titled Blue Banisters arriving in October. Another single followed before the release date, Arcadia. This addressed feeling not at home and out of place in California. The album was released in late October and spawned the hit track Dealer. It was her first album since 2017 to not feature Jack Antonoff as a main producer. The album contained several “unreleased” tracks that had been leaked years previously. The album has been said to be her least cohesive project but as always she managed to still deliver a fully baked masterpiece. It goes over topics of body shaming, criticism from the media, abuse, addiction, the pandemic, relationships, and family. It is the most personal project of hers yet and shows a more private side of the usually mysterious singer that we haven't seen before. Soon after she released a beautiful and euphoric song titled Watercolor Eyes for the soundtrack of the hit TV show Euphoria.
In December of 2022, Del Rey announced her new album through her website and social media. She released the title track and lead single the same day. Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd was released on March 24th, 2023. The album was produced by frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, as well as an array of new producers and sample credits. The record includes the dark and intoxicating track A&W, a nearly 10-minute classic that halfway through drops to an insane trap beat. The record also feature songs like Fingertips, a masterclass in Lana Del Rey songwriting and structure. A loose-cannon of words and thoughts flowing out at rapid speed. The album was critically acclaimed and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200.
LDR10 & LDR11 ARE COMING
She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for Eleven Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Grant was born in New York City before moving to Lake Placid where she grew up. After struggling with alcohol throughout high school her parents sent her to boarding school for a few years. Once she left she moved in with her uncle and aunt on Long Island. This is when she started learning how to play guitar and sing. She started regularly playing at bars under the name Lizzy Grant and Sparkle Jumprope Queen while she was working as a waiter. During this period she recorded several unreleased demos and EP’s that she used to get noticed by a record label. Sometime in 2005, she recorded the folky Sirens album under the name May Jailer. A few years later in 2008 under the name Lizzy Grant, she signed to 5 Point Records and recorded an EP titled Kill Kill. In 2010 she released her full-length debut titled Lana Del Ray AKA Lizzy Grant exclusively for download that was later pulled from iTunes after financial issues with supporting the album. After getting noticed by what would become her new managers, Ben Mawson and Ed Millet, she switched record labels and moved to England in 2010 where she started working on her debut as Lana Del Rey.
She first gained popularity with her music video for the sultry and love-soaked song Video Games released in late 2011. It was released with a homemade video featuring random clips combined with filmed clips of Del Rey singing along to the song. The next single was the title track for her album Born To Die. This song is a perfect way to start off the album with an almost cinematic feeling to it when you first hit play. Following the success of these songs, she released her 2nd EP the self-titled Lana Del Rey in early January of 2012 to build anticipation for her big record label debut. Born To Die was released a couple of weeks later. It spawned the hit single Summertime Sadness which a year later had a Grammy-winning remix that is one of her best-selling songs of all time. The album is filled with catchy lyrics and clever wordplay that draws the listener in. It features motifs of old men she dated, dead exes, and realizing our mortality. It is a baroque pop album with a very hip-hop-inspired beat to it. Going from upbeat songs about living life to the fullest and being wild to slower songs about a past love she missed. Born To Die has gone on to be one of the most influential albums in pop music changing the course of it forever. It is also the second longest-running female album to be on the Billboard Top 200 with over 400 weeks and counting. Towards the end of the same year, she released her third EP Paradise. Promoted with the lead single Ride it has commonly been bundled with her debut album and sold as Born To Die - The Paradise Edition. It features a key part of her music, patriotism. She released a short film titled Tropico soon after that included three of the songs off of Paradise. An EP of the same name was available alongside the film with the three tracks. While she began to work on her next album she kept fans well-fed with a slew of singles including her biggest hits, Summertime Sadness Remix, and The Great Gatsby soundtrack Young and Beautiful. She also sang Once Upon A Dream for the Disney film Maleficent.
In 2014 she released her sophomore album Ultraviolence which was mainly produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 marking her first #1. She beautifully executed a sonic shift in her music to a much darker sound. This album started an entire generation of Tumblr sad girls. It was led by the hit singles West Coast and Brooklyn Baby. It also contains the electric guitar-infused Shades Of Cool along with a stunning music video telling the story of an old boyfriend of hers seeing the ghost of her wherever he goes. Ultraviolence dives deep into Del Rey’s abusive relationships with men and also alcohol. It includes a beautifully sung cover of Nina Simone’s The Other Woman.
After the success of Ultraviolence, she wasted no time in starting on her next album. Commonly referred to as her best era for aesthetics, Honeymoon was released in 2015. It was mainly produced by Del Rey, Rick Nowels, and Kieron Menzies. She referred to it as her “vanity project” and one she holds close to her heart. Despite being considered her “flop album” it is still one of the best works of her career. It was led with the single High By The Beach which addressed issues about paparazzi and just wanting to “get high by the beach”. Honeymoon is a very jazz-inspired album and also a return to the more baroque-pop of Born To Die and Paradise. With some of her most haunting lyrics, it features the cinematic Honeymoon title track as well as a tribute to David Bowie’s brother on Terrence Loves You. It is her most cinematic album and transports the listener to a beach in California on your Honeymoon or driving down a boulevard in Hollywood lined with palm trees.
After some time she announced that LDR5 was in the works. She released the lead single Love which was dedicated to her fans in February of 2017. The album titled Lust For Life came later in July. The album was produced mainly by Rick Nowels and Del Rey like her previous album. This album contained her first features on any of her projects on several different tracks. It is one of her more experimental albums and traced back to her debut album’s roots in hip-hop. She collaborated with rappers A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti on the track Summer Bummer. She collaborated with A$AP again on the track Groupie Love. The album also contains features with Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac and Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon. It is a very summery album with some of her most refined and perfected production. The next year she began work on her next album with herself producing as well as new collaborator producer Jack Antonoff who has worked with the likes of Taylor Swift, Lorde, and P!nk.
Norman F*cking Rockwell! was released in August of 2019 after a chain of singles. Featuring some of her most epic songwriting and vocals as well as a cover of Sublime’s Doin’ Time, it is her most critically acclaimed album and one of the most critically acclaimed albums in the world with a Pitchfork rating of 9.4, which is the highest score for a female artist this decade. It was her biggest debut on Spotify and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. It is one of her most cohesive albums and her fans like to say it is the album she truly found her sound with. It featured themes of feminism, love, and Americana, and encapsulated a perfect beachy summer vibe. It was nominated for a Grammy at the 2019 Grammys in two of the big four categories, Album of The Year and Song Of The Year for the title track. Post-NFR she released a few singles including Looking For America to raise money for a charity, a cover of Summertime - The Gershwin Version, and a Halloween-sounding soundtrack for Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark titled Season Of The Witch. She also released a book of poetry and a spoken-word audiobook titled Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass. In late 2020 she also announced a covers album of American classics that has yet to be released.
After various delays, she released her sixth full-length album Chemtrails Over The Country Club, originally titled White Hot Forever, in March of 2021. It was produced by Jack Antonoff similar to her last album as well as Rick Nowels who she worked with for Honeymoon and Lust For Life. The cover art features Del Rey and her friends gathered around a picnic table in black and white. This album sees her continue to grow and progress as an artist and shows her continue with an alternative sound similar to NFR! While also showing a new folk-inspired country side of Del Rey with the same genius songwriting. The album talks about friends and Americana as well as going into more serious topics. Featuring a very different song for Del Rey with new, rawer vocals we have never heard from Lana before, White Dress is a stunning song about her time as a waitress before her singing career. The album also contains a cover of Joni Mitchell’s For Free with Zella Day and Weyes Blood. Also in the album is an outtake that was originally recorded for Lust For Life, Yosemite. It highlights the same haunting vocals and lyrics as Lust For Life but seems to fit perfectly on Chemtrails as well. She also collaborated with Nikki Lane on this album on the track Breaking Up Slowly, which shows her first venture into country music.
In April of the same year, Del Rey took to Instagram to announce the release of another album Rock Candy Sweet. After months the project was never released and instead, three singles from another project were released. Blue Banisters, Textbook, and Wildflower Wildfire. The songs talks about an abusive relationship, taking solace in her friends, and finally a small clue as to why her relationship with her mother is so strained. Finally, she announced LDR8 titled Blue Banisters arriving in October. Another single followed before the release date, Arcadia. This addressed feeling not at home and out of place in California. The album was released in late October and spawned the hit track Dealer. It was her first album since 2017 to not feature Jack Antonoff as a main producer. The album contained several “unreleased” tracks that had been leaked years previously. The album has been said to be her least cohesive project but as always she managed to still deliver a fully baked masterpiece. It goes over topics of body shaming, criticism from the media, abuse, addiction, the pandemic, relationships, and family. It is the most personal project of hers yet and shows a more private side of the usually mysterious singer that we haven't seen before. Soon after she released a beautiful and euphoric song titled Watercolor Eyes for the soundtrack of the hit TV show Euphoria.
In December of 2022, Del Rey announced her new album through her website and social media. She released the title track and lead single the same day. Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd was released on March 24th, 2023. The album was produced by frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, as well as an array of new producers and sample credits. The record includes the dark and intoxicating track A&W, a nearly 10-minute classic that halfway through drops to an insane trap beat. The record also feature songs like Fingertips, a masterclass in Lana Del Rey songwriting and structure. A loose-cannon of words and thoughts flowing out at rapid speed. The album was critically acclaimed and debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200.
LDR10 & LDR11 ARE COMING
She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for Eleven Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.