Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter.
Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamor, and melancholia, with frequent references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–70s Americana. Her vintage Hollywood glamor aesthetic is presented not only in her music, but also in her music videos.
Raised in northern New York, Del Rey moved to New York City in 2005 to pursue a music career. She first began releasing music as Lizzy Grant, with the EP 'Kill Kill' arriving in 2008. By 2010, she had rebranded herself as Lana Del Rey, and released her self-titled debut studio album; the album did not chart.
After numerous projects, Del Rey's breakthrough came in 2011 with the viral success of her single "Video Games"; she subsequently signed a recording contract with Polydor and Interscope. She achieved critical and commercial success with her major label debut album, Born to Die (2012), debuting and peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Born to Die contained the sleeper hit "Summertime Sadness".
Born To Die became her first of six number-one albums in the UK, and also topped various national charts around the world. Del Rey's third album, Ultraviolence (2014), featured greater use of guitar-driven instrumentation and debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200. Her fourth and fifth albums, Honeymoon (2015) and Lust for Life (2017), saw a return to the stylistic traditions of her earlier releases, while her critically acclaimed sixth album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019) explored soft rock, was nominated for Album of the Year at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, and was also named one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone. Her next studio albums, Chemtrails over the Country Club and Blue Banisters, followed in 2021. Del Rey collaborated with Taylor Swift on "Snow on the Beach", from Swift's tenth studio album Midnights (2022).
Del Rey's ninth studio album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, was later released in 2023, supported by the critically acclaimed single "A&W" and its title track.
References
albums by Lana Del Rey
Songs by Lana Del Rey
