Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1986),[1] known by her stage name Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Del Rey started writing at the age of 18[2] and she signed her first recording contract when she was 22 years old with 5 Points Records in 2007,[3] releasing her first digital album Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant in January 2010. Del Rey bought herself out of the contract with 5 Points Records in April 2010.[3][4]She signed a joint contract with Interscope, Polydor, and Stranger Records in July 2011.[4]
After she released her debut single "Video Games" in June 2011, a music video created by Del Rey for the song was posted on YouTube in August 2011. After the song became a viral internet hit with over 20 million views, her second studio album, Born to Die, was released in January 2012. The album has sold over 5 million copies worldwide to date, and was the fifth best-selling album of 2012.[5][6] Charting across Europe, this album spawned numerous top ten hits, including "Blue Jeans", "National Anthem", "Born to Die", and "Summertime Sadness."
With the release of her third EP, Paradise, Del Rey spawned her second top ten album in the United States, debuting at number 10 on the Billboard200 with 67,000 copies sold in its first week. To date, her discography includes two full-length studio albums, three EPs, seven singles, and eight music videos. An acclaimed musician and cinematographer, she has won the Q Award for "Best New Thing", a GQ Award for "Woman of the Year", aBRIT Award for "International Breakthrough Act" and another for "International Pop Female Solo Artist", and an EMA for "Best Alternative Act".
Del Rey's music has been noted for its cinematic sound and its references to various aspects of pop culture, particularly that of the 1950s and 1960sAmericana. The singer has described herself as a "self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra." Before signing to a major record label, Del Rey provided sole production of her music videos. Musically, she draws influence from what she deems to be the masters of each genre, including Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Nirvana, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, and Britney Spears, as well as from poetry and film noir.[7]
2011–12: Born to Die and Paradise
Main articles: Born to Die (Lana Del Rey album) and Paradise (Lana Del Rey EP)
"When you find everything you love and you lose it, and for me that was music, your ambitions definitely start to change, they have to. My goals have shifted from wanting to become an important artist to becoming an active member of my community. It’s really nice my music is being played and people are taking notice, but music isn’t my primary focus anymore. Not even close. My goal is to be a good person who lives with dignity and grace. I will write again because I have to now. It’s a luxury and will allow me to concentrate on other interests and pursuits. I wrote one album and no-one listened. I’m fine with that. I made an exquisite record three years ago which was perfect for me. I’ve learned to do things just for myself, and the fact things have kind of worked out now is just icing on the cake."
Lana Del Rey speaks about her mainstream success.[19]
After uploading a few of her tracks to her YouTube channel, Del Rey was discovered and was signed by Stranger Records to release her debut single "Video Games."[78] She told The Observer, "I just put that song online a few months ago because it was my favourite. To be honest, it wasn't going to be the single but people have really responded to it."[12] The song earned her a Q award for "Next Big Thing" in October 2011[79] and an Ivor Novello for "Best Contemporary Song" in 2012.[80] The same month, she signed a joint deal with Interscope Records and Polydor to work on her second studio album Born to Die.[20][81][82][83] Del Rey built anticipation to the album by doing a number of live appearances, such as promotional concerts at the Bowery Ballroom and at the Chateau Marmont, and with performances at television shows such as De Wereld Draait Door, and Later... with Jools Holland.[84][85][86][87] Del Rey also performed two songs from the album on Saturday Night Live on January 14, 2012 and received a negative response from critics and the general public. Del Rey's performance was defended by the evening's program guest host, actor Daniel Radcliffe, despite not having seen her performance.[88] She had earlier defended her spot on the program, saying: "I'm a good musician [...] I have been singing for a long time, and I think that [SNLcreator] Lorne Michaels knows that [...] it's not a fluke decision."[89] The following week on SNL, Kristen Wiig impersonated del Rey where she humorously defended herself during Weekend Update.[90]
Born to Die was officially released on January 31, 2012 worldwide, and reached number one in 11 countries, though critical reaction was divided.[91][92] The same week, Del Rey said that she bought back the rights to her 2010 debut album, and had plans to re-release it in the summer of 2012 under Interscope Records and Polydor.[93] Contrary to Del Rey's press statement, her previous record label and producer David Kahne have both stated that she bought the rights to the album when she and the label parted company, due to the offer of a new deal, in April 2010.[81][94] Born to Die sold 3.4 million copies in 2012, making it the fifth-best-selling album of 2012.[95] In the United States, Born to Die charted on the Billboard 200 album chart well into 2012, lingering at number 76, after 36 weeks on the chart.[96]
In an interview with RTVE on June 15, 2012, Del Rey announced she has been working on a new album due in November, and that five tracks have already been written, two of them being "Young and Beautiful" and "In the Land of Gods and Monsters" and the other track titled "I Sing the Body Electric," which was performed and announced as one of her songs at the BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend. In an interview with Tim Blackwell for Nova FM in Melbourne, Australia, Del Rey added that her upcoming November release would not be a new album, but more like an EP, which she described as the Paradise Edition of Born to Die. Del Rey stated that the new release would have around seven new songs.[97] Mid-September saw the official announcement of Paradise's lead single, "Ride."[98] A music video for the single had recently been shot in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.[99] Two days later, the music video for "Blue Velvet" was released through H&M.[100] Nearly a week after the video debuted, the promotional single was released to airplay and became available for purchase.[101] The music video for "Ride" premiered at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California on October 10.[102] "Ride"'s video released online two days prior.[103] Critics panned the video as pro-prostitution[103][104] and antifeminist, the latter being a word attributed to Del Rey's work since "Video Games."[105][106]
Del Rey's Paradise Edition of Born to Die was set to be released on November 12. With the release of her third EP, Paradise, Del Rey spawned her second top 10 album in the United States, debuting at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 67,000 copies sold in its first week.[107] At the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards, Del Rey received nominations in the categories Best Alternative,Best Push, and Best New Act. Winning Best Alternative, Del Rey presented the award for Best Female to Taylor Swift.[108]
2013: Tropico, and third studio album
At the 2013 BRIT Awards, she won the award for International Female Solo Artist, making it her second BRIT Award to date.[109] Del Rey's win surprised critics who highly anticipated Taylor Swift to win the award.[109] She is currently working on her third studio album. "It's a little more stripped down but still cinematic and dark. I've been working on it really slowly but I love everything I've done. I've been writing in Santa Monica and I know what the record sounds like. Now I just have to finish it. Musically I've worked with the same three guys," she said. She mentioned that one of the songs off the album would be called "Black Beauty", and she already knows what the music video for it is going to look like.[110] In March, Del Rey recited Walt Whitman's poem "Song of Myself" for the French fashion magazine, L'Officiel Paris.[111] A demo of the song leaked online on July 19, 2013.[112]
Del Rey's seventh single, "Dark Paradise", was released as a single in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on March 1, 2013.[113] Del Rey won the ECHO Awards for Best International Newcomer and Best International Pop/Rock Artist on March 21, 2013.[114] A music video for Del Rey's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel #2" was released on March 27, 2013.[115] The following month, in April 2013, another self-produced video was released; it showed Del Rey and her boyfriend, Barrie-James O'Neil, covering "Summer Wine", by Lee Hazlewood.[116]
Together with the film's director, co-writer, and co-producer Baz Luhrmann, Del Rey penned the original song "Young and Beautiful" for the soundtrack of the 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.[117] The song was made available for purchase as a digital download in April 2013 before officially impactingcontemporary hit radio the following month as the film's kickoff single. This was the first song in Del Rey's career to receive a release to contemporary hit radio.[118] A snippet of the track appeared in the official trailer for the film and played during the scene where the characters portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio andCarey Mulligan express their romantic feelings for one another.[119] Hip hop magazine Rap-Up called the single "haunting",[118] while MTV called it "somber-sounding".[119][120] The official music video for "Young and Beautiful" was released on May 10, 2013.[121] Following the song's release, it peaked at 22 on theBillboard Hot 100, making it Del Rey's highest peak on the chart since her first mark, "Video Games", peaked at 91 in 2012.[122] However, Shortly after it's release to contemporary hit radio, the label pre-maturely pulled it and decided to send a different song to that format; on July 2, 2013, a Cedric Gervais remix of Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness" was sent there; a sleeper hit, the song proved to be a success, surpassing"Young and beautiful", reaching number 6 and becoming her first American top ten hit.[123]
Alongside Paradise, Del Rey plans to launch a short film titled Tropico that features the songs "Bel Air", "Body Electric", and "Gods and Monsters".[124][125] "Tropico" was filmed in late June 2013; it was directed by Anthony Mandler,[125] who also directed Del Rey's previous music videos for "National Anthem" and "Ride". Via social media platforms, Del Rey released several promotional images for the film, one depicting Del Rey in a wimple reminiscent of Mary, Mother of Jesus and another with Del Rey holding a snake and posing as Eve, the biblical wife of Adamfrom Genesis.[124][125] On Twitter, Del announced that the film would premiere at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, referring to the short film as a "farewell".[124][125] Weeks later, Del Rey tweeted the film's official release date as 5 December 2013.[126] Critics noted that this contradicted other claims by Del Rey that she would release a third studio album, with a demo of the song "Black Beauty" leaking online.[124][125]
