Lana Del Rey |
|
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Full name |
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant |
| Born |
June 21, 1986 (age 26) |
| Hometown |
New York City, New York |
| Stage Names | |
| Family |
Robert Grant Jr., father |
| Romances |
Barrie James O'Neill (boyfriend) |
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1986 in New York City, New York), known by her stage names Lana Del Rey, Lizzy Grant, and May Jailer, is an American singer-songwriter, model, artist, and musician. She was born to her mother Patricia Grant, and father Robert Grant. Though born in New York City, she was raised in Lake Placid. She has a sister, Caroline "Chuck" Grant, and a brother, Charlie Grant, both younger than her. She now goes by Lana Del Rey, the name she has been using since 2011.
Early life
Lana Del Rey was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant to her mother and father in New York City, New York on June 21, 1986. Her father, a former Grey Group executive copywriter turned web developer, and her mother Patricia Grant, a former Grey Group account executive raised her in Lake Placid, New York for the majority of her youth, along with sister Chuck and brother Charlie. Her father, who worked as a major executive, began investment in web domains in the late 90's, and as a result became a self-made entrepreneur. Though her family was well off, Lana has stated that her father was never a millionaire and that they never lived a wealthy lifestyle.
Teenage years
From an early age, Lana had alcohol dependance issues. At the age of fourteen, Lana was sent to Kent School, a boarding school in Connecticut.
Young adult life
After returning to New York at age 18, Lana began studying metaphysics at Fordham College. She began making social connections to other musicians who encouraged her to experiment with music. After learning six chords on guitar from her uncle, she began writing music. On learning guitar, she said "I realized I could probably write a million songs with those six chords". The result of her writing was the production of her first album, Sirens. The acoustic album, written entirely by Lana under the stage name "May Jailer", was the beginning roots of her musical life and showcased a more fragile and peaceful take on her voice and sound. She began playing songs in various underground clubs in New York in 2005, and continued writing and performing for the next few years. Her stage name changed many times through this period, beginning with "May Jailer", evolving into "Lizzy Grant & The Phenomena", shortly becoming "Sparkle Jump Rope Queen", and eventually becoming Lizzy Grant.
Lizzy Grant era
Soon, after recording a demo EP, No Kung Fu, Lana began work on her first studio album. She sent the EP to various producers, asking them to become producers for her first album, and after listening to her tracks, David Kahne agreed to produce the entirety of the album. The two began recording in 2008 and recorded every day for three months. Her first EP was released after they begun their sessions, Kill Kill, which included three tracks - Kill Kill, Gramma, and Yayo. The three songs off the EP would later be included in her debut LP, Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant. The album was released by 5 Points Records on January 5, 2010, to iTunes and Amazon. Shortly after this, it was removed and Lana bought the rights to the album back from her label after deciding to proceed with a different musical aim. The album was removed from all circulation, but a re-recording of the song Yayo appeared later on Paradise.
Born to Die era
Later in 2010, Lana began work on her major-label debut album Born to Die. She and Justin Parker began working with each other at this time. She dyed her naturally blonde hair auburn in 2010, and began releasing self-made videos featuring noir cinema clips interlaced with her own videos, made on her Apple computer, in mid-2010. She posted Video Games to her Youtube channel on August 19, 2011. The song and video immediately began to garner attention from music critics, who hailed the fragility of her voice and the songs production, and she was signed to Stranger Records the next month. The song was released as a double A-side along with Blue Jeans on October 16, 2011. Soon, Lana signed on to Interscope Records and Polydor Records to begin recording of Born to Diefor release in early 2012.
Interscope and Polydor introduced Lana to various producers, including Rick Nowels and Emile Haynie. She began recording both older songs and new material for the album, and Born to Die was released on December 30, 2011, as the second single from the then-untitled album. Lana began promotion of the material soon after being signed, and performed in many intimate venues and shows. She made her U.S. television debut on January 14, 2012, alongside Daniel Radcliffe on the comedy show Saturday Night Live. The performance received polarized reviews, with some calling it the "worst performance in SNL history", while some attributed Lana's stage presence to stage-jitters, due to the fact that it was her first performance on American television.
Paradise era
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 "Will You Still Love Me When I'm No Longer 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 Radio1'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.