Lana Del Rey's real name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant.
Del Rey is of Scottish descent, and has two younger siblings
She was born on June 21, 1986 in New York City to former Grey Group copywriter turned entrepreneur, Rob Grant, and former Grey account executive, Pat Grant.
She grew up wealthy and spent a lot of time the Chateau Marmont in L.A. and travelled around the world with her parents.
Her first introduction to singing was in the church choir which she enjoyed and her interest for music peaked.
Del Rey grew up in Lake Placid, New York until age 15, when she was sent to Kent School, a boarding school in Connecticut, for three years to deal with her alcohol dependence.
"I was a big drinker at the time. I would drink every day. I would drink alone. I thought the whole concept was so f******* cool. A great deal of what I wrote on Born To Die is about these wilderness years. When I write about the thing that I've lost I feel like I'm writing about alcohol because that was the first love of my life. My parents were worried, I was worried. I knew it was a problem when I liked it more than I liked doing anything else. I was like, 'I'm f*****. I am totally f***** . Like, at first it's fine and you think you have a dark side - it's exciting - and then you realise the dark side wins every time if you decide to indulge in it. It's also a completely different way of living when you know that...a different species of person. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me," she said in an interview.
She attended Fordham University in the Bronx, New York where she studied metaphysics which is a branch of philosophy. She chose it because "it bridged the gap between God and science. I was interested in God and how technology could bring us closer to finding out where we came from and why," she said in an interview.
She eventually dropped out because she wasn't good at math. She began focusing on art, writing, and video editing.
While in New York, she started performing at small, local clubs. "I was always singing, but didn't plan on pursuing it seriously. When I got to New York City when I was 18, I started playing in clubs in Brooklyn-I have good friends and devoted fans on the underground scene, but we were playing for each other at that point-and that was it."
Her father, Rob Grant, bankrolled her first independent studio album. The album was called Sirens and she recorded it under the name "May Jailer".
She also has the phrase "die young" tattooed on her right ring finger.
Del Rey has been in a relationship with Kassidy ex-member Barrie-James O'Neill since August 2011. He lives in London and she spends a lot of time there.
Among her many interests, she is fascinated with photography and collects stock footage and creates video collages. Her videos for Video Games and Carmen are self-made and very well made. She references Tennessee Williams, Walt Whitman, and Vladimir Nabokov in her lyrics. She refers to William's A Streetcar Named Desire in Carmen ("relying on the kindness of strangers") and has a song named after Whitman's I Sing the Body Electric.
Not only is she a talented singer and song-writer, Del Rey is also a model. She signed a contract with Next Model Management under the same talent wing that also represents pop stars Ellie Goulding and Florence Welch.
