Singer and songwriter Elizabeth Woolridge Grant is better known by her stage name Lana Del Rey. She previously went by the name Lizzy Grant. At the age of 18, Del Rey began creating songs. She signed her first record deal with 5 Points Records in 2007. She released her debut digital album, Lana Del Ray, in 2010. Later, she terminated her agreement with 5 Points Records on her own, and in July 2011, she inked a deal with Interscope, Polydor, and Stranger Records.
Her second studio album, Born to Die, was released in 2012 and debuted at number two on the U.S. charts. 200 on Billboard. Additionally, it was 2012’s fifth-best-selling album. Her highest-charting song in the U.S. was a remix of Cedric Gervais’ smash tune “Summertime Sadness.” Billboard Hot 100 after rising to sixth place nationally. Later that November, she released Paradise, her third extended play. She made a short movie called Tropico that included three of its records. In June 2014, she released her third studio album, Ultraviolence, which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. She will co-headline a tour with Courtney Love in the summer of 2015 beginning in December 2014.
having its origins in Lake Placid, New York. She attends a Catholic elementary school and was later enrolled in Kent, a Connecticut boarding school. Her teacher, Gene Campbell, exposed her to music. Later, she relocated to Long Island, where she worked as a waitress. At the age of 18, her uncle gave her guitar lessons. She banged giving performances and shows in nightclubs. She never intended to pursue music professionally.
Del Rey first saw Van Wilson, an A&R representative for 5 Points Records, at her 2006 Williamsburg Live Songwriting Competition performance. David Nichtern was the owner of that indie label. She then agreed to a record deal and started working with David Kahne, a producer. In 2008, she released Kill Kill, a three-track EP, as her debut. She issued her self-titled album, Lana Del Ray, in 2010. Later that year, Mando Diao included a song by Del Rey in their MTV Unplugged performance at Union Film-Studios in Berlin. She signed a partnership contract with Interscope Records and Polydor in 2011 to work on her Born to Die album.
Del Rey’s music is renowned for its cinematic quality and allusions to different facets of popular culture, especially Americana from the 1950s and 1960s. According to the singer, Nancy Sinatra is a “gangsta.” She cites the masters of each field as musical inspirations, including poetry, movies, and artists like Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Nirvana, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, and Britney Spears.
