Lana Del Rey

June 21, 2025

Fast Facts
Background
Career Timeline
Why We Love
Surprising Facts
FAQs

Lana Del Rey, born on June 21, 1985, discovered her talent for music after she began singing in her church choir. However, she has previously shared that her “musical experience” began while she was at Fordham University. She has now become one of America’s biggest pop stars. Since she took the world by storm with her single ‘Video Games’ in 2011, she has received various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two M.T.V. Europe Music Awards, and six Grammy Awards nominations. Join us in celebrating one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century!

Fast Facts

Full Name:

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant

Birth date:

June 21, 1985

Age:

Zodiac Sign:

Gemini

Height:

5' 7"

Relationship Status:

In a relationship

Net Worth:

$30 million

Background

Since taking the world by storm with her 2011 single ‘Video Games,’ Lana Del Rey has not looked back. She continues to stand out from her peers and it’s not surprising that she’s among the best-selling solo artists in the world right now. She was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant on June 21, 1985, in New York City. Her parents moved to Lake Placid, also in New York, in the Adirondack Mountains when Del Rey was still a baby and she grew up with a younger brother and sister. Her zodiac sign is Cancer and her ethnicity is half-English and half-Scottish. She is the daughter of Robert England Grant Jr. and Patricia Ann Hill. She began singing in her church choir when she was a child and has since become internationally acclaimed for producing music with cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia.

As a teenager in the small community of Lake Placid, Del Rey started drinking heavily and developed drinking problems. This forced her parents to send her to Kent School, a boarding school in Connecticut. Even though the boarding school wasn’t a complete solution, by 18, she had fully recovered and later enrolled at Fordham University in the Bronx, where she studied Philosophy. She then started her career with open mic nights and club gigs. A judge on the panel of a competition she had entered in 2006 helped her create a demo, which led to her signing with the indie label 5 Points. With the $10,000 she earned, Del Rey moved into a trailer park in New Jersey.

She assumed several names before deciding on one. She flirted with names such as Sparkle Rope Jump Queen and May Jailer before settling on Lana Del Rey, which was selected on a trip to Miami in part for its evocation of coastal glamour.

Career timeline

2011

She Releases 'Video Games'

'Video Games' gains much popularity on the internet and starts to gather significant media attention.

2013

She's on "The Great Gatsby's" Soundtrack

She contributes to the soundtrack "The Great Gatsby" with another hit, 'Young and Beautiful.'

2015

She Releases "Honeymoon"

Despite its critics, Del Rey releases her third album "Honeymoon."

2017

Her Fourth Album

Del Rey's most collaborative album yet, "Lust for Life," is released featuring the works of The Weeknd, Sean Lennon, Stevie Nicks, Playboi Carty, among others.

Why We Love Lana Del Rey

She donates to charity
She donated the profits from her song 'Looking For America' to charity and also added half of the proceeds from her poetry books to Native American charities. She's a great inspiration for everyone following her career.
She studied metaphysics
She is a Fordham University graduate and she studied metaphysics during her time there. She was interested in the subject and decided to learn more about it.
She's a history maker
She was the first person to record a pop video at the Fontainebleau in France. The shooting for 'Born To Die' made history.

5 Surprising Facts

She writes poetry
Del Rey announced in 2020 that she was releasing a poetry book titled "Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass" and that a second book would come out in 2021 with the name "Behind the Iron Gates — Insights from the Institution."
She had a fiancé
Del Rey was romantically involved with fellow musician Clayton Johnson but they’ve since separated ways.
She lived in a trailer
Before rising to fame, she had to pay her dues and lived in a trailer.
She is a philanthropist
Having overcome a drinking problem herself, she committed herself to helping other people do the same.
She supports Liverpool
Del Rey is a big Liverpool and Luis Suarez fan.