Lana Del Rey is best known for her 2012 hit “Summertime Sadness” off of her first studio album Born to Die.  She continues to be successful with six albums, three EPs, and 35 singles.  Her lusty, old Hollywood style endlessly draws people in because of how enticing she makes her songs.  If you are a true Lana fan, you know she has hoards of unreleased songs that touch on past trauma, addiction, relationships, and glamour.  Before she was Lana Del Rey, she was Lizzy Grant.

Elizabeth Woodridge Grant was Del Rey’s birth name and she continued to use the nickname “Lizzy Grant” for open mic performances as a teenager in her home state of New York.  According to sources from DIY Mag, Grant received a college education from Fordham University and majored in “philosophy with a focus on metaphysics – a branch of philosophy that deals with things like ‘being, knowing, identity, time and space’”.  These ideals are both reflected and contrasted in her music in the past and present – through spirituality, love, and divine femininity.  Metaphysics focuses on the fundamentals of the world, whereas spirituality played into Grant finding herself in the music industry. (Finn)

In 2005-6, Grant released two EPs entitled From the End and Young Like Me and even an album, Sirens.  These three pieces present large differences from her current music, as they were heavily folk-inspired and acoustic.  These were all under the name “May Jailer”.  Although she went through a sound and name change, Grant’s core themes still remain constant.

Grant’s first taste of real success was in 2007, as i-D tells, “she recorded a demo tape titled No Kung Fu in a bid to find a producer for her first studio album”.  David Kahne ended up picking her up.  His help “landed her a record deal – but not one that made her famous”.  At this point, she had officially changed her stage name to “Lizzy Grant” and put out the Kill Kill EP in 2008 and Lana Del Ray a.k.a Lizzy Grant in 2010 (Hellyer).  In October 2011, Grant changed to “Lana Del Rey” and was signed to Interscope Records.  After leaving them a year and a half later, Del Rey released what gave her a real big break – Video Games, her first official single.  From this, Del Rey was signed to Stranger Records. (Lanapedia)

Lana Del Rey has been described by NPR as “the rare bird who’s built her own gilded cage, and her best work packs the pathos of mid-century Douglas Sirk melodramas” (Walters). Although Lana’s career is still evolving, she has always stayed true to herself. ‘I’ve been singing in Brooklyn since I was 17 and no one in the industry cared at all. I haven’t changed a thing since then and yet things seem to be turning around for me,’ said Lana in a 2011 Pitchfork interview. Since 2011 Del Rey has continued to release hit albums and has another coming out in March 2021, Chemtrails Over the Country Club.