Elizabeth Woolridge Grant was born on June 21, 1985. She known professionally as Lana Del Rey and is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, poet, model and music video director. Her music has been noted by critics for its stylised cinematic quality, its preoccupation with themes of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, and its references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana.

She was raised in New York, but moved to the city in 2005 to start her music career. Following numerous projects including her debut studio album and the unreleased Sirens, Del Rey's breakthrough came after the viral success of her single "Video Games" in 2011. Later that year she signed with Interscope and Polydor. Her major label debut Born to Die (2012) proved an international success and spawned her first top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 with the Cedric Gervais remix of "Summertime Sadness". Since, Del Rey has released the US Billboard 200 number-one albums Ultraviolence (2014) and Lust for Life (2017), along with top-ten releases Paradise (2012) and Honeymoon (2015). She has received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for both Paradise and Lust for Life.


Many file soundtracks have included her music, most notable are "Young and Beautiful" for The Great Gatsby (2013) and the eponymous theme for Big Eyes (2014), which garnered her a Grammy and Golden Globe nomination, respectively. She also wrote and starred in the musical film Tropico (2013) and in short films to accompany her work including Ride (2012), National Anthem (2012) and Freak (2015).