Lizzo Biography

American rapper and songwriter Lizzo was born Melissa Viviane Jefferson in Detroit, Michigan. Her family would later relocate to Houston, Texas when Lizzo was 10. In her teenage years, she started rapping in southwest Houston and at age 14 she formed the Cornrow Clique with a group of her friends. During this period, she gained her moniker “Lizzo” playing off the name “Lissa” from Kay Z’s hit record “Izzo (H.O.V.A.).” She graduated from Alief Elsik High School and pursued a classical music degree focusing on flute at the University of Houston. At 21, Lizzo found herself living out of her car for a year and experiencing the loss of her father before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota when trying to break into the music scene.

After moving to Minneapolis, Lizzo she performed with various indie groups before forming an all-female rap/R&B trio the Chalice. In 2012 their debut album garnered great local acclaim. The next year she released her debut album Lizzobangers, which got recognition from The guardian and Star Tribune. She later toured that fall with Har Mar Superstar in both the US and UK while winning City Pages award for Best New Artist in the Twin Cities. TIME Magazine even recognized her as one of the artists to watch heading into 2014. Later that year she was featured on the song “BoyTrouble” along with Chalice on Prince’s latest record and appeared as a musical guest on the Late Show with David Letterman. In late 2015 her second album Big Grrrl Small World was released and was placed on many year-end lists and even had singles placed in television shows.

Lizzo signed with Atlantic Records and released her first major-label project Coconut Oil in May of 2016. This included the lead single “Good As Hell,” which has been one of the biggest hits of Lizzo’s young career. The EP peaked at #44 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and Rolling Stone listed it as the 14th best pop album of 2016. In 2017 she led the Good as Hell Tour and the next year toured with Haim and Florence and the Machine. In 2019 her album Cuz I Love You debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 list. Around that time her 2017 single “Truth Hurts” resurfaced and was added to the deluxe edition. It caused her album to stay on the Billboard 200 list for months and “Truth Hurts” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list and stayed there for seven weeks, eventually being certified gold by the RIAA. She performed the track at the 2019 BET Awards, performed at the Glastonbury Festival, and headlined pride festivals in both Indianapolis and Sacramento. 

Lizzo has just wrapped up the Cuz I Love You Too Tour and had a supporting role in the film “Hustlers.” She is currently nominated for eight awards at the 2020 Grammys, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year. She is embarking on numerous other award campaigns and is set to appear alongside Eddie Murphy on the last SNL episode of the 2010s. She continues to work on her follow up project.