- Born Elizabeth Grant in New York City in 1985. She grew up in Lake Placid, New York, and returned to NYC at age 18 for college and to play music in clubs. Originally, she did this for her own enjoyment, not planning to make a career of music.
- Her stage name was made up by her lawyer and managers. She liked it because “…I wanted a name I could shape the music towards. I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba – Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside. It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue.”
- Del Rey has released 5 studio albums. Her first album, Lana Del Ray, was only released by digital download in 2010, and was withdrawn shortly after its release. Note the alternate spelling of ‘Del Ray’ instead of ‘Del Rey’. She bought back the rights to the album in late 2011, and the music has not been re-released. In 2008, she released an EP of 3 songs, named Kill Kill, by digital download. This EP was released using the name Lizzy Grant.
- Her second album, Born To Die, released in 2012, brought her major success. It has sold in excess of 7 million units. In the U.S., 5 singles from the album were released. The critics did not treat the album well – AllMusic rated it 2.5 stars out of 5, and Rolling Stone rated it 2 stars out of 5. Her appearance on Saturday Night Live to promote the album also did not help – some outlets put the SNL performance as one of the worst in SNL history.
- Her albums Ultraviolence and Honeymoon received better reviews, and charted as high as #1 and #2 respectively in the U.S., though sales were not nearly as large as Born To Die. Her fifth album, Lust For Life, will be released shortly. The title track, a collaboration with The Weeknd, was released on April 19, and has already received over 13 million views on YouTube.
- She has been nominated for 3 Grammy awards, but has yet to win one. She has won numerous other awards for her work.
- Del Rey has a distinctive voice which creates an aura of dreaminess to her work. Her vocal range is over 3 octaves, allowing her to hit the low notes (jazzy, sultry) and the high notes (girlish, dreamy).
- Here’s the video to one of her more sultry sounding songs, High By The Beach.