Lana Del Rey Biography

Lana Del Ray was born in 1986 in New York. Ray began singing when she was still in elementary school, mainly in the local church choir. After she learned to play the guitar while attending Fordham University, she began to perform around the New York City area, in various nightclubs and bars, initially just for fun. But the experience lingered with Lana, and in 2005 she completed a seven track demo featuring her recordings of her own original songs.

Within a few years, Del Ray had released her first album, Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant (2010.) The album performed well enough to create a bit of a buzz, but it was after stumbling upon her YouTube performances that Interscope Records and Polydor took notice of Lana’s talents and signed her to the labels in a joint deal. Del Ray’s sophomore effort and debut with the labels, Born to Die, was released shortly thereafter, in 2012, and Del Ray launched a small tour to further bolster the success of the album.

Since then, Born to Die has sold more than thirty million copies and has risen to the top of the Billboard charts, establishing Lana Del Ray as a star on the rise. Del Ray’s next album, A Million Lights, fared equally well, spawning the singles “Ride” and paving the way for her next album, the Paradise Edition of Born to die, which debuted in the top 10 on the charts and earned Del Ray multiple industry award nominations. Additional hit singles from Lana Del Ray include: “Video Games,” “Born to Die,” “Off to the Races,” “Summertime Sadness,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Dark Paradise.”

Most recently, Lana Del Ray composed the song “Young and Beautiful” specifically for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the classic novel, the Great Gatsby. The single has resulted in critical acclaim for Del Ray and her musical talents, and Del Ray has plans for additional album releases, performances, and projects in the near future.