Lana Del Rey, born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, was born into the family of an entrepreneur and teacher. high school. She took her first musical steps in the church choir. At the age of 15, Lana’s parents sent her to Kent School, where she was treated for alcohol addiction.
Studied at Fordham University of New York. Thanks to her uncle, she learned to play the guitar and began composing songs. In 2005, Del Rey began her music career. She recorded several tracks, as well as a demo album, which she published under the pseudonym May Jayler.
Real fame came to Lana Del Rey in 2011, when she published on YouTube videos she had edited for the songs “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans.” In 2012 it was released studio album"Born to die"
In 2013, the song "Young and Beautiful", written and performed by Lana Del Rey, was released for the film The Great Gatsby. In 2014, the singer’s third studio album, Ultraviolence, was released.
The release of a new Lana Del Rey album has been announced for 2017.
Hobbies
Video editing, cinema, charity, dancing.
Personal life
Lana Del Rey has younger sister Caroline and brother Charlie.
She dated musician Stephen Mertins. In 2011, she began dating the lead singer of the band Kassidy, Barry James O'Neill. Their romance ended in 2014. When Lana was 20 years old, she dated the head of a music label. They were together for seven years.
In 2014-2015, she was in a relationship with Italian photographer and director Francesco Carrozzini.
IN adolescence Lana Del Rey suffered from alcohol addiction.
Lana wrote all her songs herself.
On her left arm, Lana Del Rey has an “M” tattoo in honor of her grandmother Madeleine, with whom the singer was very close as a child.
Quotes
I'm an introvert by nature. So I sing about what happens to girls who think they have found the only person for life, and then their dreams are suddenly crushed. Being lonely and not feeling attached to anyone is very difficult. I want to believe that you will find happiness.
All my life I was firmly convinced of only one thing - that I had talent. Before my debut, I wrote songs for ten years, and this was the most important, most stable part of my life.
I always tell myself: “Think about those who like you, everything else should not bother you.” In my opinion, the main thing is to be a good man and live interesting life. This may sound naive, but this is what I am all about.
A representative of pop culture that gravitates towards retro images of the second half of the twentieth century, the sweet-voiced Lana Del Rey, having appeared on the musical horizon, for a long time was " dark horse" She was accused of excessive plasticity, abuse of processing of tracks, due to which it is simply impossible to hear how the girl’s voice sounds in reality, as well as open propaganda of a frivolous lifestyle.
However, Lana Del Rey’s music has become a kind of anthem for youth, and the singer herself is the “unspoken” queen of American heroine pop culture.
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The girl grew up in the suburbs, attended Catholic school and sang in the choir. From the age of 15, she spent time in an elite boarding college, where she became addicted to alcohol. The next three years, according to the singer, became the most difficult in her life - the teenage girl became dependent on alcohol and drugs.
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Elizabeth later attended Fordham University in the Bronx, where she studied metaphysics. At that time, the girl was very religious and dreamed of using technology to get closer to understanding what God is and how humanity arose. The singer still calls herself a Catholic.
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The girl released the album under her real name “Lizzie Grant” in 2010, but the release was a failure. And only in 2011 luck smiled on the singer - debut single“Video Games” made the girl mega popular, but under the name Lana Del Rey.
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Lana Del Rey completely denies that she has ever changed her facial features using plastic surgeons.
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Lana's look is inspired by 60s icon Nancy Sinatra. However, Lana is very close to the aesthetics of this period.
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The singer has several tattoos: on Lana’s left hand is the word “paradise” and the letter “M” - the initial letter of the name of her beloved grandmother Madeline. And on the right - “trust no one” (“don’t trust anyone”).
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There are a lot of rumors about the girl’s novels. So she is credited with relationships with the frontman of the cult rock band Guns’n’Roses Axl Rose, 30 Seconds to Mars drummer Shannon Leto (brother of actor Jared Leto) and the lead singer of the band Kassidy Barry James O’Neill.
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You'll soon forget Lady GaGa and Rihanna. In 2012, we will talk about the 25-year-old red-haired seductress with an angelic appearance and a languid voice, Lana Del Rey.
Discovery of the year
The era of golden Hollywood and retro music merged in the image of one singer.
1. Internet sensation
In the summer of 2011, the former jazz singer with big blue eyes, performing under the pseudonym Lana Del Ray, stirred up music world, featuring several homemade clips on his YouTube channel. Her sensual lips and restrained sexuality in the Video Games video amazed the minds of both serious music critics and complete nerds. In September 2011, tickets to her first concert, which took place in New York, sold out in 30 seconds. A month later, the girl received the Q Awards in the special category “ Future star" And a month later, her video Born To Die was watched 40 million times on YouTube!
2. Hollywood diva
Lana Del Rey successfully took up the retro baton after the tragic death of Amy Winehouse. The red-haired beauty's stage name is derived from the name of the glamorous classic Hollywood star Lana Turner and the name of the Ford Del Rey car. Lana's doll image tends to bohemian chic: new-look dresses, lush false eyelashes, voluminous flowing curls, the innocent look of a frightened doe. The singer's video clips are collected from pieces of American film hits of the 30s–50s, and the lyrics tell about unrequited love, life's sorrows and inexpressible loneliness. “I'm not that cool. Sometimes I feel like I want to fucking kill myself. Creepy,” the drama accompanies every interview with Lana Del Rey.
Sensual and vulnerable, Lana Del Rey poses coyly for the camera and calls herself “the gangster version of Nancy Sinatra.” It turns out amazing!
Lips that sing...
Lana Del Rey calls Elvis Presley, Vincent Gallo and Ambrosia Parsley her idols.
3. Seductive lips
In the company of lush-lipped seductresses - sexy Scarlett Johansson, stylish Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and fragile Angelina Jolie - they arrived! Indie singer Lana Del Rey's lips are as hypnotic as her viscous voice.
However, ill-wishers never tire of hissing on blogs about whether Lana’s beauty is as natural as everyone thinks? Like, she does her nails, glues on her eyelashes, and her thin nose didn’t look so elegant until 2011. The girl herself states that she has never dealt with silicone and in general she does not have the funds for plastic surgery: “I have never done anything like this to myself. Sorry guys, but I lived in a trailer for several years, I simply didn’t have the money for things like that. Do you think I crawled out from under the bridge and immediately went for plastic surgery? They're just a little plump. And in general, they are like that only when I sing.”
4. Multimillionaire father
When it turned out that Lana Del Rey's father is multimillionaire Rob Grant, there were even more questions for her. In one of the interviews, Lana tried to explain to fans why she had to live in a trailer. It turned out that her wealthy dad loves “trailer houses.” “My dad is an innovative entrepreneur. But this does not mean that he is a successful financial tycoon. It just means that he lives an interesting life. No one cared that I lived in a trailer park: Dad loves trailer houses and uses this one. My first label gave me a check for a small amount, and I moved into a trailer park near Manhattan. I wouldn’t talk about it, but people ask all the time,” the mysterious Lana said in an interview.
The performer emphasizes that her wealthy father has nothing to do with her success, and her music career- the achievement of the angels who “decided to shed a little light on her.”
"I don't compete with these girls"
Indie singer Lana Del Rey promises to be the musical bomb of 2012.
5. Attempt No. 2
Lana Del Rey, whose past holds a lot of secrets, is called “Indie Frankenstein” by American music critics. Not only because she resorted to the help of plastic surgeons, and her millionaire father likes to live in trailers. The singer doesn’t talk much about her musical past. In 2009 she undertook unsuccessful attempt conquer the stage under the name Lizzy Grant. An album was planned for release, but for unknown reasons it never came out. All clips and tracks recorded by the singer during that period were destroyed from her profile on social networks and music stocks. “I want people to pay attention to my new music“says Lana Del Rey.
There is little information about Lana, and sometimes it is difficult to trust her sincerity. Lana Del Rey as a hologram. Is she real? Or is there an army of brilliant image makers and producers (including Kanye West) hiding behind her fragile silhouette who made us love her so much?
6. Favorite singer of politicians
Sophisticated Lana Del Rey attracts more than just depressed hipsters. In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, current British Prime Minister David Cameron said that he is in love with Lana's work. By the way, the leader of the Conservative Party has very advanced musical tastes. In addition to the red-haired beauty, he listens to Florence + The Machine, The Killers and alternative rockers The Smiths.
7. New pop princess?
Lana Del Rey's debut album, Born To Die, will be released on January 30 in the UK and the following day worldwide. The disc includes 12 tracks, including Internet hits Video Games, Born To Die and National Anthem, which received millions of views on YouTube last year. They almost expect her to best album 2012. The singer herself modestly expects that “we will like him.”
Rumor has it that this year Lana will overtake Lady Gaga in popularity ( Lady Gaga) and Rihanna. “I don’t compete with these girls. I don't compete with anyone. The only thing that has really changed in my music is that I now have an audience,” notes the 25-year-old singer.
Not long ago, the 30-year-old heroin-pop legend and self-proclaimed Miss America released a new long-awaited album "Honeymoon". And, most likely, this release, which the singer’s press service has been furiously promoting for the last 3 months, will break sales records previous work Lana - "Born to Die"(2012) and "Ultraviolence"(2014). Especially for those who can’t calm down and listen to Del Rey’s songs 100 times a day, website compiled a selection of 19 interesting facts about the singer.
1. Book about Lana
The actor's 100-page work will be released in March 2016. James Franco entitled "The Flip Side: Real and Fictitious Conversations with Lana Del Rey"(Flip-Side: Real and Imaginary Conversations With Lana Del Rey). The book will be based on, um, Polaroid photographs and fictional conversations with Lana, created by Franco and the writer David Shields.
2. Study at a university in New York
18 year old Lizzie Grant(Lana's real name) came to New York to study metaphysics at Fordham University. With a specialization, as the singer later said, on “mathematical proof of the existence of God.” Lana's sister Carolina was studying at Parsons School of Design at that time, and the girls rented a room together in the Big Apple.
3. Origins of creativity
The singer was born in the village of Lake Placid, New York, twice the capital of winter Olympic Games: in 1931 and 1980. Equestrian competitions are also regularly held here. "I Love New York" And "Lake Placid". The village scenery is simply stunning: the place is surrounded on all sides by high mountains and dense forests. Who knows, maybe this is where Lanina’s “trademark” sadness originated.
4. Private school in Connecticut
As a teenager, Lana suffered alcohol addiction and excessive partying. So the girl's father sent her to a private boarding school in Connecticut.
“Life without alcohol scared me,” Lana admits now. - but since I quit, miracles began to happen to me. That’s how I realized the correctness of my path.”
5. Suffering from haters
Despite 11 years of drinking, Lana reaches for alcohol whenever she encounters negativity directed at her. “If I feel that someone doesn’t like my music, and the 10 years during which I have been diligently composing have passed in vain, I have a wild desire to remember the past and get drunk,” the artist once said.
6. Lots of alter egos
Lana Del Rey- not the singer’s first pseudonym. In 2005, Lizzie Grant recorded a demo tape "Sirens" under the name May Giler, and in 2008 she registered on Myspace under the name Sparkle Jump Rope Queen(literal translation: "glitter, jump rope, queen").
7. Dad the promoter
Lana's father is a domain investor Rob Grant. He started his activities in the late 90s and quickly became a successful entrepreneur and millionaire. In 2011 he received the award "Best Investor of the Year". At first, Rob tried to help his daughter by promoting the album "Lana Del Ray" (2010).
At the same time the boss of the first label Lanas 5 Points Records vehemently denies rumors that Rob paid for his daughter's appearance in show business. According to David Nichtern, the father could not sponsor Lana’s craving for creativity, because any money is powerless before this.
8. Boyfriend from Guns’n’Roses
In 2012, there were rumors about Lana's alleged relationship with Axl Rose, frontman of the cult rock band Guns'n'Roses. At that time, Miss Ray was 27, and Rose was 50. Probably, their Scottish roots could bring them together, but no one knows the truth. At the height of the gossip, the singer appeared at a show in London wearing a T-shirt with the band’s logo, only fueling the public’s interest. And even more: American hard rockers still don’t let go of Lana, on her album "Ultraviolence" there is a bonus track "Guns'n'Roses".
9. Video Games
Fame and success came to Lana after the release of the single "Video Games", which received several awards in 2012 - Ivor Novello Awards, BRIT Awards, NME Awards and MTV EMA. Since the release of the video for this song, it has been viewed more than 91 million times on YouTube.
10. Fashionable sister
Caroline "Chuck" Grant, the singer's sister, appeared in a small cameo role in the video for the song "Ride". In the story, Grant is a tough biker, a gang member. "Hell's Angels". Let us remind you that Caroline is a photographer, a graduate of the prestigious Parsons School of Design, which graduated such famous designers as Donna Karan, Mark Jacobs, Tom Ford, Alexander Wang And Narciso Rodriguez. Now guess who did Lana's first photo shoots?
11. "Born To Die"
The singer's first album became a super hit. In March 2014, it sold a million copies in the United States, and before that it broke records in the charts. Thus, he topped the best records charts in 11 countries, including the UK, Australia, Germany and France.
12. France forever
The video for the title song from the singer's debut disc was filmed in the luxurious French Fontainebleau Palace, where different time Louis VI and Napoleon III visited. And the director of the video was a French woman Yoann Lemoine. In the video, Lana herself sports a red jacket that perfectly matches the color of her lipstick.
13. Denies plastic surgery
Besides the fact that Lizzie Grant And Lana Del Rey different names, their faces are completely different. The media is constantly making noise about possible plastic surgery Del Rey (collagen injections and rhinoplasty), but the singer herself denies everything.
“I’ve never done anything like this... My lips are naturally plump. Perhaps they look even bigger when I sing,” the singer comments on the gossip. It doesn't look very convincing, but oh well. Nothing should ruin a beautiful fairy tale.
14. Lolita
If we talk about Lana's work from a harsh perspective music critic and get to the bottom of the images and themes, then in her songs you can find one main leitmotif - the nymphet Lolita. From quotation Humbert Humbert in the track "Off to the Races"(light of my life, fire of my loins, transl. light of my life, fire of my loins) and to the song with the title "Lolita"- as we see, Lana has studied Nabokov’s works well.
15. Ginsberg and gangster Sinatra
In addition to Nabokov, the girl adores the iconic beatnik Allen Ginsberg. It started for her at the age of 15, when Lizzie read a poem "Howl". The very image of Lana is built on the basis of another icon of this turbulent period - the singer Nancy Sinatra. Del Rey describes herself as a gangster version of a star from last century. Lana's friend, rapper Princess Superstar, confirms: "The lyrics, the music, the way she sings - she always had a '60s aesthetic." And by the way, "Lolita" published in 1955 - another proof.
16. "Ultraviolence"
The singer continued to express her love for the 60s, choosing a different source of inspiration for her second album - Anthony Burgess and his novel « A Clockwork Orange» . Thus, the title of the record directly appeals to the famous “ultra-violence” from this book (however, in the literary version it meant something else: beating, robbing, raping). And on the cover there is Lana with a cigarette in her mouth - also a hint for Burgess fans.
17. Queen of sadcore
Lana Del Rey if you don't know new Queen sadcore. The term was first coined in 2006 for the singer Cat Power, but after release "Video Games" by Lizzie Grant won this crown for herself. And she even modernized it: Lana is the world's first performer of the Hollywood sadcore genre.
18. Tattoos
On Lana's left hand is the word "paradise" and the initial "M", in honor of her grandmother Madeline. And on right hand The singer's favorite saying of Agent Mulder is “trust no one” (don’t trust anyone).
19. Cobain and universal sadness
No matter how unexpected it may sound, Lana loves Kurt Cobain. The first time she looked "Heart-Shaped Box" at 11 years old MTV, and since then I couldn’t calm down for a long time:
"Kurt was one of the most beautiful people that I've ever seen. Even despite my age, I felt a kinship with him and his sadness.”
