Lana Del Rey
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Grant better known by her stage name
Lana Del Rey is an American singer-songwriter
. Her stage name is a combination of the late old Hollywood actress Lana Turner
and the Ford Del Rey
and grew up in Lake Placid, New York
. When she was fifteen, she left Lake Placid to go to boarding school in Connecticut. She is the daughter of domain
investor Rob Grant. Lizzie Grant's management chose her stage name, Lana Del Rey, "I wanted to be a band but the label I was with and the team I had around me absolutely wanted me to be a solo artist. Lana Del Rey came from a series of managers and lawyers over the last 5 years who wanted a name that they thought better fit the sound of the music."
She released an EP
titled "Kill Kill" in 2009, under the name Lizzy Grant.
She also recorded a full-length album on a tiny independent label with producer David Kahne
, which was released for a brief period before being withdrawn after the label failed to promote the record.
" was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork Media
and was featured on The CW TV-Series Ringer
. Her debut single "Video Games"/"Blue Jeans" was released by Stranger Records on vinyl on October 10, 2011 and digitally the following day. Tickets for Grant's show in London sold out in half an hour.
The EP for both of the singles "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" reached the top five of the US iTunes Albums Chart only hours after its release. On October 11, 2011 she performed "Video Games" live on Later... with Jools Holland, her first live performance on UK television.
On October 17, 2011, the single's UK release date, Bombay Bicycle Club
covered "Video Games" in BBC Radio 1
's Live Lounge
. Kasabian subsequently covered the track on October 26 as part of Radio 1's Live Lounge Student tour.
On Monday, November 7, 2011, "Video Games
" was featured on Gossip Girl
.
On Monday, November 14, 2011, Blue Jeans was featured on Made in Chelsea
.
"Video Games
" also featured on the British
Reality
T.V Series, The Only Way Is Essex
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Lana Del Rey is an American singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. Her stage name is a combination of the late old Hollywood actress Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
and the Ford Del Rey
Ford Del Rey
The Ford Del Rey is a midsized car produced by the Ford Motor Company in Brazil from 1981 to 1991. It was a remake from the popular Ford Corcel II. Like the Ford Corcel II, the Del Rey was designed exclusively for Brazil, but was sold in Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay as well...
Early life and career beginnings
Grant was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and grew up in Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid, New York
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
. When she was fifteen, she left Lake Placid to go to boarding school in Connecticut. She is the daughter of domain
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
investor Rob Grant. Lizzie Grant's management chose her stage name, Lana Del Rey, "I wanted to be a band but the label I was with and the team I had around me absolutely wanted me to be a solo artist. Lana Del Rey came from a series of managers and lawyers over the last 5 years who wanted a name that they thought better fit the sound of the music."
She released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
titled "Kill Kill" in 2009, under the name Lizzy Grant.
She also recorded a full-length album on a tiny independent label with producer David Kahne
David Kahne
David Kahne is an American record producer. Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and then became notable for his role as in-house producer and engineer at 415 Records, the first American new wave music label, and for his subsequent roles as Vice President of A&R at Columbia...
, which was released for a brief period before being withdrawn after the label failed to promote the record.
2011–present: Debut
Her song "Video GamesVideo Games (song)
"Video Games" is the debut single by American singer Lana Del Rey, released on October 10, 2011 by Interscope Records in the US, and Stranger Records in the UK. It was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork on August 3 after the release of an online video on July 1.The song was featured on The CW TV...
" was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
and was featured on The CW TV-Series Ringer
Ringer (TV series)
Ringer is an American television series that premiered on The CW on September 13, 2011. The series stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, who plays twin sisters Bridget Kelly and Siobhan Martin...
. Her debut single "Video Games"/"Blue Jeans" was released by Stranger Records on vinyl on October 10, 2011 and digitally the following day. Tickets for Grant's show in London sold out in half an hour.
The EP for both of the singles "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" reached the top five of the US iTunes Albums Chart only hours after its release. On October 11, 2011 she performed "Video Games" live on Later... with Jools Holland, her first live performance on UK television.
On October 17, 2011, the single's UK release date, Bombay Bicycle Club
Bombay Bicycle Club
Bombay Bicycle Club are a British indie rock and folk band from Crouch End, London. The band comprises: Jack Steadman , Jamie MacColl , Ed Nash and Suren de Saram ....
covered "Video Games" in BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Live Lounge
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...
. Kasabian subsequently covered the track on October 26 as part of Radio 1's Live Lounge Student tour.
On Monday, November 7, 2011, "Video Games
Video Games (song)
"Video Games" is the debut single by American singer Lana Del Rey, released on October 10, 2011 by Interscope Records in the US, and Stranger Records in the UK. It was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork on August 3 after the release of an online video on July 1.The song was featured on The CW TV...
" was featured on Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
.
On Monday, November 14, 2011, Blue Jeans was featured on Made in Chelsea
Made in Chelsea
Made in Chelsea is a scripted soap opera set in the wealthy Chelsea district of London. The show follows the lives of: Ollie Locke, Spencer Matthews, Fredrik Ferrier, Francis Boulle, Hugo Taylor, Millie Mackintosh, Amber Atherton, Alexandra Felstead, Francesca Hull, Rosie Fortescue, Caggie Dunlop...
.
"Video Games
Video Games (song)
"Video Games" is the debut single by American singer Lana Del Rey, released on October 10, 2011 by Interscope Records in the US, and Stranger Records in the UK. It was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork on August 3 after the release of an online video on July 1.The song was featured on The CW TV...
" also featured on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
T.V Series, The Only Way Is Essex
The Only Way Is Essex
The Only Way Is Essex, is a British BAFTA award-winning semi-reality show based in Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way."...
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
BEL (FL) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
BEL (WA) Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... |
FRA |
IRE Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
NL |
SWI |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
|||
| "Video Games Video Games (song) "Video Games" is the debut single by American singer Lana Del Rey, released on October 10, 2011 by Interscope Records in the US, and Stranger Records in the UK. It was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork on August 3 after the release of an online video on July 1.The song was featured on The CW TV... " |
2011 | 75 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 23 | 9 | 4 | Born to Die |
| "Born to Die" | 2012 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
Other charted songs
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA |
SWI |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 2011 | "Blue Jeans" | 16 | 51 | 119 | Born to Die |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Kill Kill" | Lana Del Rey | |
| "You Can Be the Boss" | |||
| "Kinda Outta Luck" | |||
| 2011 | "Blue Jeans" | ||
| "Video Games" |
- "Diet Mtn. Dew" has two versions of music videos as does "Kinda Outta Luck".