Lana Del Rey

Early life and education

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant was born on June 21, 1985 in Manhattan, to Robert England Grant Jr., a copywriter at Grey Global Group, and Patricia Ann "Pat" Grant (née Hill), an account executive at the same organization. She has a younger sister, Caroline "Chuck" Grant, and a younger brother, Charlie Grant. She grew up Catholic and is of Scottish and English descent. When she was a year old, the family moved to Lake Placid, New York. In Lake Placid, her father worked for a furniture company before becoming an entrepreneurial domain investor; her mother worked as a schoolteacher. There, she attended St. Agnes School in her elementary years and began singing in her church choir, where she was the cantor.

2005–2010: Career beginnings and early recordings

In spring 2005, while still in college, Del Rey registered a seven-track extended play with the United States Copyright Office; the application title was Rock Me Stable with another title, Young Like Me, also listed. A second extended play, From the End, was also recorded under Del Rey's stage name at the time, May Jailer. Between 2005 and 2006 she recorded an acoustic album, Sirens, under the May Jailer project, which leaked on the internet in mid-2012.

Musical style

Del Rey has been labeled an "alt-pop" artist. Her works have been variously categorized as pop, rock, dream pop, baroque pop, indie pop, psychedelic rock, while incorporating trip hop, hip hop, lo-fi, and trap elements. Upon her debut release, Del Rey's music was described as "Hollywood sadcore" by some music critics. It has been repeatedly noted for its cinematic sound and its references to various aspects of pop culture; both critics and Del Rey herself have noted a persistent theme of 1950s and 1960s Americana. The strong elements of American nostalgia brought Idolator to classify her firmly as alternative pop. Del Rey elaborated on her connection to the past in an interview with Artistdirect, saying "I wasn't even born in the '50s but...

Influences

Del Rey cites a wide array of musical artists as influences, including numerous pop, jazz, and blues performers from the mid-twentieth century, such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Bobby Vinton, The Crystals, Brian Wilson, Nancy Sinatra, and Miles Davis. Torch singers Julie London and Julee Cruise have also served as influences. "[I really] just like the masters of every genre", she told BBC radio presenter Jo Whiley in 2012, specifically naming Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley.

Dark Paradise

"Dark Paradise" is a song recorded by the American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey for her second album, Born to Die (2012). It was written by Lana Del Rey and Rick Nowels, while production was handled by Emile Haynie.

Nowels and Devrim Karaoglu produced the radio mix of the song. The song was released on March 1, 2013, by Universal and Vertigo Records, as the sixth and final single from Born to Die.

Background and release

In an interview in June 2012, Del Rey said she would not release the song as a single but did plan to release a music video in September 2012. However, no music video was released, and on January 29, 2013, an official radio edit of "Dark Paradise" was serviced to German radio stations. On the same day, it was announced that the song would serve as the fifth single in Austria and Germany, and the sixth single in Switzerland. It was released as a digital download in the three countries on March 1, 2013.

Lyrics and composition

Billboard said about the song's lyrics: "Del Rey once again declares her undying love for her bad-boy lover," adding that the song's melody "recalls late-'80s Madonna".

Critical reception

The song garnered mixed reviews from critics. Most critical reviews came from the melodramatic tone of the song, along with the lyrical content and repetitive production. Billboard gave the song a negative review, saying that "fatigue sets in" when this song comes up on the album, and that the song "would be a subpar ballad for Del Rey" even if she had never released "Blue Jeans" or "Video Games". Jaime Gill from BBC Music used the song as an example as why Born to Die isn't perfect, saying that "it slumps slightly towards the end, and the glossy trip-hop production grows wearying on lesser [G]othic melodramas like 'Dark Paradise'." David Edwards from Drowned in Sound said along with "Carmen" that they weren't the best tracks on the album,...

Say Yes To Heaven

"Say Yes to Heaven" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. She wrote the track with its producer Rick Nowels in 2012 for her third studio album, Ultraviolence (2014), and reproduced it for Honeymoon (2015) and Lust for Life (2017), but was ultimately cut from all three albums.

After leaking online and becoming viral on TikTok, "Say Yes to Heaven" was released as a single without prior promotion on May 19, 2023.

Background and release

Lana Del Rey's third studio album, Ultraviolence, was released in 2014. It featured a number of collaborators, including Rick Nowels, who previously worked with her on the songs "Summertime Sadness" (2012) and "Dark Paradise" (2013). He was the first person to collaborate with Del Rey on Ultraviolence and co-wrote the tracks "West Coast" and "Shades of Cool" with her. Following its release, the album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, where it became Del Rey's first chart-topper.

Composition

"Say Yes to Heaven" runs for three minutes and twenty-nine seconds. Nowels produced the song, and played electric guitar and Hammond organ. Other musicians include Patrick Warren (guitar, marimba, strings), Tim Pierce (electric guitar), and Brian Griffin (percussion). Dean Reid and Roy English provided drum programming for the song, which was engineered by Kieron Menzies, John Christopher Fee, Trevor Yasuda, and Rocci. It was mixed by Reid and mastered by Ruairi O'Flaherty.

Reception

"Say Yes to Heaven" received positive reviews from music journalists, who described it as "dreamy", "heavenly", and "melancholy". Davis praised Del Rey's "playful" vocals and her songwriting for capturing a sense of "stoic, timeless, and implicitly flawed yearning" in the song. Vito commended Del Rey's "signature, poetic ambiguity" and the sonic pallette that "[she became] so good at crafting". Nylon's Sophia June called the song a "simple gut-punch about submission and yearning" and Alternative Press's Sadie Bell called the song a "sweet, lovelorn ballad".

Chemtrails Over The Country Club

"Chemtrails over the Country Club" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 11, 2021, by Interscope Records and Polydor Records as the title track and second single from her seventh studio album of the same name.

The song was written and produced by Del Rey and frequent collaborator, Jack Antonoff.

Background

On August 31, 2019, the release day of her sixth studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Del Rey announced she had already begun work on another album. On May 25, 2020, she announced in an Instagram post that the album would be titled Chemtrails over the Country Club. The album was initially scheduled to be released on September 5, 2020, but she later revealed that the release had been postponed to March 19, 2021, largely due to vinyl production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critical reception

"Chemtrails over the Country Club" received critical acclaim. In a review for NME, Rhian Daly described the song as "swooning" and "beautiful". In two articles covering the song for Vulture, Justin Curto described the song as "one of [Del Rey's] classic dreamy love songs" and "more interesting than the middle-of-the-road lead single 'Let Me Love You Like a Woman'" but not "any more substantive", noting how Del Rey "sways and lilts through the delicate rhythm, eventually finding her way toward a glitchy bridge" but suggesting that lyrically she is "only speaking for herself" and "doesn't have much profound to say". Tom Curtis-Horsfall of GigList opined that "Where Norman Fucking Rockwell! sounded like a dying bugle call for the American...

Music video

The music video for "Chemtrails over the Country Club" was released on YouTube alongside the song on January 11, 2021. It was directed by American film production duo BRTHR. In a review of Chemtrails over the Country Club for Pitchfork, Mina Takavoli described the music video as "Lana in a diamanté mesh mask, looking a little like Hedy Lamarr in low fidelity, glancing sweetly from the driver’s seat of a mid-century Mercedes-Benz Cabriolet", while "chemtrails dart overhead in crosshatch as Lana stares up with widened eyes."

Ride

"Ride" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey from her third extended play (EP), Paradise (2012). The song was written by Lana Del Rey and Justin Parker, while produced by Rick Rubin, the song served as the reissue's first single on September 25, 2012 through Interscope Records.

"Ride" is a soulful ballad that thematically involves parental problems, alcohol consumption, and loneliness. The cover for the song depicts Del Rey on a tire swing, wearing cowboy boots and a denim jacket.

Composition

"Ride" is a pop soul, country-soul, and blue-eyed soul ballad. In the song, Del Rey sings over a string-drenched, piano-driven melody produced by Rick Rubin. Lyrically, the song was written by Del Rey and Justin Parker, who co-wrote almost every song on Del Rey's debut album, Born to Die. In the song, Del Rey sings lines such as, "I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking crazy" and "Been trying' hard not to get into trouble/But I, I've got a war in my mind... so I just ride". The song opens with an audible inhalation, before Del Rey gushes out, "I've been out on that open road". The recording features mild cursing, but is otherwise laced with nostalgic lyrics and husky vocals. To further promote the single and album, an EP was released...

Critical reception

"Ride" earned critical commendation from music critics. Contactmusic.com noticed the track adheres to Del Rey's trademark sound, stating that the notion of her even having a trademark after one commercially successful album indicates that "we haven't seen the last of her just yet." Of the production itself, it was said that "Ride" is more accomplished than Del Rey's previous endeavors, with the strengths of the track outshining the flaws. The reviewer concluded by saying, "All that doe-eyed “you can be my full-time daddy / baby” shtick is going to start getting a little tired pretty soon, though, we reckon."

Video Games

"Video Games" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. The song was written by Del Rey and Justin Parker, and produced by Robopop.

It was first released to the Internet on May 5, 2011, and was later released on her extended play, Lana Del Rey. The song was re-released as the lead single from her second studio album, Born to Die, on October 7, 2011, through Interscope Records.

Recording and production

"Video Games" was written and composed by Del Rey and Justin Parker in the key of F♯ minor and was produced by Robopop (Daniel Omelio and Brandon Lowry) at BMG Studios in New York City. The demo version of the song included Del Rey's vocals accompanied by piano chords. The vocals and piano were re-recorded with Lowry. Omelio then took the re-recorded session and added all other instrumentation and layers, including strings, harps and synth arpeggios in one studio session, spanning from 8pm to 2am, stating "It was a kind of being in the zone thing. I locked myself in the room, switched off the lights and went full into it". Omelio mixed the song as he went along.

Music and lyrics

"Video Games" is four minutes and 42 seconds long (4:42). It blends together baroque pop, dream pop, and downtempo. Set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 123 beats per minute, Del Rey's vocal range spans from E3 to A4. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised how Del Rey's vocal performance, against ballooning orchestration and pizzicato strings, overlapped the subdued theme of an aloof, beer-drinking boyfriend figure. Del Rey described her music and day-to-day style as "gangsta Nancy Sinatra", with contemporary critics noting the song as a doom-filled ballad that unapologetically displays vulnerability.

Critical reception

The song received widespread critical acclaim from music critics. Following its release, Ian Cohen dubbed the song "Best New Music" on Pitchfork commenting, "on her stirring debut single, New York singer-songwriter Lizzy Grant transforms into the more bombastically named Lana Del Rey and absolutely wallows in it." Digital Spy writer Robert Copsey noted Del Rey "combines a near-identical [Nancy Sinatra] vocal with her own fascination for the tragically glamorous — or 'Hollywood sadcore' as she succinctly labels it." Lindsey Johnstone of The Scotsman described the song as an "ode to being ignored and the exquisite pain of clutching at an illusion of happiness". Lewis Corner, also of Digital Spy, said, "New York-born, London-based Lana Del...

Music video

The music video for "Video Games" was directed and edited by Del Rey. It features video clips of skateboarders, cartoons, and shots from old movies, as well as paparazzi footage of Paz de la Huerta falling down while intoxicated. These are interspersed with shots of Del Rey singing, which she filmed using a webcam. When asked if she would change anything about the video's production, Del Rey stated, "Had I known so many people were going to watch the video, I'd have put some more effort into it. I would have got my hair and make-up done and tried not to be so pouty, seeing as everyone talks about my face all the time. And I'd have put more of a storyline into it." The singer revealed that she was "trying to look smart and well turned-out,...

West Coast

"West Coast" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey from her third studio album, Ultraviolence (2014). Written by Del Rey and Rick Nowels, it is a melancholy love song about a woman torn between love and ambition, and as a dedication to the West Coast of the United States.

A psychedelic rock and soft rock ballad, the song was noted to be an evolution and more guitar-orientated in sound for Del Rey and was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Described as a two-in-one song, its shifting tempo transitions downward by nearly 60 beats per minute at the chorus in a rhythmical shift reminiscent of The Beatles' 1965 single "We Can Work It Out", introduced by the guitar lick that begins The Beatles' 1964 single "And I Love Her".

Background

"West Coast" was written by Del Rey and her frequent collaborator Rick Nowels in California, with Del Rey composing its lyrics and melody, and Nowels its chords. In November 2013, Del Rey traveled to Electric Lady Studios in New York City, which she occupied for five weeks alone, and produced the track by herself from a guitar before later hiring session drummer Maximilian Weissenfeldt, while Nowels would come by "every now and then". Together, they produced the initial recording of "West Coast" as a classic rock-inspired song. Del Rey developed the track as a dedication to the West Coast of the United States, but with the intention of it being more psychological, which resulted in the track becoming distant from that of the verse–chorus...

Composition

A psychedelic rock and soft rock ballad, "West Coast" also contains elements of reggae, indie rock, Latin rock, 1960s music, 1980s "drive time," and "narcoticized" swing. The track's subversive sound is the result of its comprising jagged instrumentation and laid-back groove, similar to that of the Classics IV's "Spooky" (1967). The opening riff solicits a "wavy" sound reminiscent of The Black Keys' Turn Blue (2014), and is continued throughout the rest of the song. Described as a two-in-one track, its shifting tempo transcends downward during the chorus mark, following into a rhythmical shift reminiscent of The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" (1965), Being more guitar-orientated than the singer's previous output, it is based around...

Release

"West Coast" served as the lead single from Ultraviolence. The song's title was first announced by the singer on April 3, 2014, on Facebook and Twitter. On April 10, 2014, Del Rey posted the track's single art on Twitter with the lyric, "Down on the West Coast, they got a sayin'...", as its caption. The same caption was used in a promotional billboard which was put up in Los Angeles the same day. The heavily yellow artwork, which makes use of an Instagram filter camera lens, features Del Rey donning soft makeup while standing on a Californian coastline afront crashing waves. She has a forlorn facial expression in the cover, and is depicted with a subtle frown with her eyes staring straight into the camera. Del Rey sports a beach-inspired...

Critical reception

"West Coast" received universal acclaim from contemporary music critics. Michael Nelson of Stereogum commented, "This is just a haunting, hypnotic piece of music that sends chills up and down my entire skeleton, especially when the tempo shifts downward on the chorus". Nylon writer Liza Darwin deemed the track "silky-smooth" and "total ear candy". Lauren Valenti of Marie Claire lauded the song as "a slice of retro heaven". The track was noted by Stern to be "revolutionary" in the sense that it sounded "entirely different from anything being offered in pop music at the moment" and deemed it "the very antithesis of everything radio in 2014". Kyle Fowle of The A.V. Club named "West Coast" as the album's most accomplished track and "the one...

White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter

"White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on February 17, 2026, as the third single from her upcoming tenth studio album, Stove.

Background and release

Del Rey announced the release on February 7, 2026, via a series of Instagram posts. The song will be released as the third single from her upcoming tenth studio album, Stove, following the 2025 singles "Henry, Come On" and "Bluebird". Its release will be accompanied by a music video that was produced in collaboration with the song's co-writers. The announcement comes alongside news about her upcoming album and arrives approximately three years after her previous album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (2023).

Composition

According to DIY, the track features a Gothic storybook-like atmosphere, combining breathy vocals, suspenseful string arrangements, and a theatrical vocal delivery that evokes the presence of a subtly sinister, "sort of devilishly alluring Disney villain".

Critical reception

Walden Green's review of the song for Pitchfork highlighted its sonic similarity to her previous work: "after a career spent writing paeans to deadbeats and douchebags, of course her take on true love sounds like a horror movie". Green further spotlighted Del Rey's influences for its sound: "within her potent brew are traces of Buffy Saint-Marie's early Buchla experiments, downtown eccentrics like Laura Nyro and Lotti Golden, and vintage Disney soundtracks".

Music video

The music video for the song follows Del Rey around her house, evoking an atmosphere similar to home videos. It also references the lyrics; for example, a John Deere mower appears in the garage.

Cinnamon Girl

"Cinnamon Girl" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey from her sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019). The song was written and produced by Del Rey and Jack Antonoff.

Background

Del Rey first previewed the song on her Instagram account on October 12, 2018, deleting her post with the sample later that same day. She shared a second snippet via Instagram on October 15, 2018, showcasing the chorus of the song. The song was initially believed to be titled "Cinnamon", which was also the original name for Del Rey's Born to Die song "Radio", which features the line "Now my life is sweet like cinnamon/Like a fucking dream I'm living in".

Lyrics and composition

"Cinnamon Girl" was written and produced by Del Rey and Jack Antonoff, while being mixed by Laura Sisk, mastered by Chris Gehringer with Will Quinnell and Jonathan Sher, while being recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Lyrically, the song speaks of a toxic relationship in which Del Rey hints at a lover trying to become estranged from her while being a prescription pill addict ("You try to push me out/But I just find my way back in"). The outro of the song samples "Wild Heart" by the band of producer Jack Antonoff.

Critical reception

Upon the release of Norman Fucking Rockwell, the song received acclaim from critics for the most part, with several calling it a "standout track" on the album. Raisa Burner of Time gave the song a positive review, praising the song for Del Rey's "angelic falsetto even as she describes emotional devastation". Kitty Power of The Guardian cited "Cinnamon Girl" as a standout track compared to the rest of the record, due to its production being different than the rest of the album: "[the record] exists in some timeless, catgut-strewn place where 3am bar pianos and washes of keyboards serve as the tear-stained mat under Del Rey’s glass slipper of a voice – until, that is, a song such as Cinnamon Girl suddenly unspools an unexpectedly long,...

Henry, come on

"Henry, Come On" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was surprise-released on April 11, 2025, by Interscope and Polydor Records, as the lead single from her upcoming tenth studio album, Stove.

Background

Lana Del Rey teased a new song, "Henry, Come On", on January 18, 2024, by sharing its title overlaid on what appeared to be the single's cover art via Instagram. She stated "Henry, come on", tagging her producer Luke Laird's Instagram account. Although no release date was initially confirmed, the track was already familiar to some fans, as it had been teased more than a year earlier. When announcing the release date of her album, then-titled The Right Person Will Stay four months prior, Del Rey stated, "Happy for you to hear a few songs coming up before Stagecoach starting with Henry," referring to the song now known as "Henry, Come On". On Thursday, March 27, Del Rey took to Instagram to share the apparent single artwork without a...

Composition

"Henry, Come On" is an acoustic country, western and Americana ballad that highlights Del Rey's fluid vocal delivery. The song features a sparse arrangement, allowing her vocals to take center stage as she sings lyrics evocative of traditional country songs.

Critical reception

Walden Green of Pitchfork named the song "Best New Track", lauding it as a "dusty, lolling ballad channeling the divine beauty of the country-western songs". He further praised Del Rey's songwriting as "delicate interweaving of the divine and the mundane". Robin Murray of Clash called it a "nuanced introduction to her country inflection point", and further praised Del Rey's "ability to frame a narrative in just a few words puts her ahead of her peers, transplanting entire screenplays into succinct pop songs". In a four star review, The Harvard Crimson called the song "an ethereal triumph, embracing both trembling vulnerability and a mature sense of disillusionment". In June 2025, Time's Jenn Pelly included the song amongst "The Best Songs...

Love

"Love" is a song by the American singer Lana Del Rey. It was released on February 18, 2017, by Polydor Records and Interscope Records, as the lead single from her fifth studio album, Lust for Life (2017).

The song was written and produced by Del Rey, Benny Blanco, Emile Haynie and Rick Nowels, with additional production by Kieron Menzies. Its release was first teased with promotional posters hung in Los Angeles on February 17, after which the release date was pushed up due to leaked versions of the song surfacing online the same day.

Critical reception

Eve Barlow of Pitchfork wrote that "'Love' is an ode to allowing yourself to feel" and that it "reassures the listener that the feeling can still lift, that love can still conquer". Barlow also gave the song the Best New Track designation. Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone called the song "anthemic" and Frank Guan of Vulture called "Love" "marvellously good".

Music video

The music video was in production in June 2016. Del Rey's hairstylist, Anna Cofone, also shared photos of her makeup kit on set on Instagram, which she later deleted.

Tomorrow Never Came

"Tomorrow Never Came" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey from her fifth studio album, Lust for Life, released in 2017. The song features vocals from American-British musician Sean Ono Lennon, who co-wrote and co-produced the song alongside Del Rey and Rick Nowels.

Background

A collaboration with Lennon was first hinted at in March 2017 in the Lust for Life album trailer, which featured the emblem of his record label Chimera Music. While speaking about her decision to do the song with Lennon, Del Rey explained to Flaunt Magazine that "I thought it might be strange for Sean to sing a song about John and Yoko as well. But I think the fact that I sing, ‘Isn’t life crazy now that I’m singing with Sean.’ It points to the fact that we’re both aware. I didn't want it to come out exploitative in any fashion. Not that it would. Still, I wanted to be as careful as possible. I wanted it to come across layered with this sort of meta narrative mixed in. In a way it's a song about a song." Del Rey later expressed her shock...

Composition and lyrics

Described as a folk rock song, it tells a story of two estranged lovers who hope to reunite, though the lyrics indicate that a future together is unlikely. To complement the melancholic lyrics, the instrumental is rather simple and subdued, relying mainly on sparse acoustic and electric guitars, an electric upright bass, and light percussion. The song features references to Lennon's parents, John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Young And Beautiful

"Young and Beautiful" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey used for the soundtrack to the drama film The Great Gatsby.

Background

Working with the film's director, co-writer, and co-producer Baz Luhrmann, Del Rey wrote the original song "Young and Beautiful" for the soundtrack of the 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, from the perspective of Daisy Buchanan.

Composition

With the lyrics "Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?", Del Rey adds a hint of desperation which parallels the idiosyncrasies faced by the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby. Del Rey's dreamy vocals are draped over sedated strings and canned percussion. The soft and dreary vocals, falling in line with Del Rey's retro affectation, fits the atmosphere of the 1920s when the novel is set. The lyrics rotate around the themes of pleasing a lover, nostalgia, and the gloom of aging.

Music video

The music video for "Young and Beautiful" was set to be released on April 22, 2013, but was officially released on May 10, 2013. Directed by Chris Sweeney, the video's production was helmed by Adam Smith and Jacob Swan-Hyam, with Sophie Muller shooting the footage. Flanked by a full-string orchestra, Del Rey sings Dan Heath's Orchestral version of her song in 1920s art deco fashion. She is shown singing the song in a dark room with glittery diamond-tears on her cheek which look like tattoos. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard magazine described the video as "somber" and the singer's look as "especially demure". Lipshutz concluded that "the clip ends without ever reaching any kind of conclusion -- much like the rhetorical question 'Will you still...

Critical reception

Critical reception of "Young and Beautiful" has been fairly positive. Hip hop magazine Rap-Up called the single "haunting", while MTV called it "somber-sounding". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard called the ballad, "typically lush", paralleling the single with Del Rey's previous hits, "Video Games" and "Born to Die". Canadian journal National Post wrote "Young and Beautiful" picks up where "Video Games" left off, stating the song was relevant to the book because of "its obsession with decay and the fleeting nature of the good life certainly resonate." The journal continued to call it an "artifact" of Del Rey's consistently dark tone, adding that by the second play-through "its bald directness becomes its appeal." MTV commented that the track...