Singer Lana Del Rey burst onto the scene last year with her fresh bluesy-pop sound and unique retro-inspired style, first gaining fans on music blogs and recently graduating to a live performance on Saturday Night LIve. Find out more in her Kidzworld Bio!
Lake Placid Lass
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, who you may know from her stage name Lana Del Rey, was born and raised in Lake Placid, New York and at the age of 15 went to school in Conneticut. Her father Rob Grant is an investor, but instead of following in her father’s footsteps, Elizabeth (or Lizzy to her family) knew that she wanted to be a professional singer. She moved back to New York to go to Fordham University and work on her career as a crooner.
"I wanted to be part of a high-class scene of musicians. It was half-inspired because I didn't have many friends, and I was hoping that I would meet people and fall in love and start a community around me, the way they used to do in the '60s," said Lana.
Lizzy to Lana
Once Lizzy started to get serious about singing she immediately started to send out demos and music producer David Kahne was intrigued right away and helped Lizzy put together her album Lana Del Rey A.K.A. Lizzy Grant, featuring her new stage name in January 2010.
"I wanted a name I could shape the music towards [...] I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba – Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside,” Lana revealed to Vogue.
The album was available on iTunes for a short time until Lana decided to pull it off the internet and rework her whole image, incorporating her retro look and homemade style videos.
Born to Die
In June 2011 Lana was signed by Stranger Records and when she burst back onto the scene in the fall of 2011 it was with a revamped look and sound and online listeners quickly made her song “Video Games” go viral on music blogs everywhere, followed by “Blue Jeans” and “Born to Die”. Music critics took notice and “Video Games” was featured in an episode of The CW’s hit show The Ringer, propelling Lana into the mainstream and after TV appearances and interviews she released her album Born to Die, she even won a coveted spot as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live!
Check out “Blue Jeans” off of Born to Die below!
Have Your Say
What do you think of Lana Del Rey? Let us know in the comments section below!
