Unknown Facts About Lana Del Rey

In 12 years of being in show business (seven of which she spent in obscurity), the singer has had a tumultuous relationship with alcohol, changed her name several times, and even tried to understand God through technology. SHORTINTERESTINGFACTS takes a look at the most languid and mysterious pop star of the decade.

Facts About Lana Del Rey:

1. As a child, she sang in a church choir.
2. Her previous stage names were Sparkle Jump Rope Queen, May Jailer, and Lana Rey Del Mar.
3. She worked as a volunteer, helping alcoholics and the homeless.
4. Her idols are Elvis, Eminem, Kurt Cobain (“When I was 11, I saw Kurt Cobain singing ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ on MTV. I stood there, frozen, unable to look away. I think he’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen”), Thomas Newman (the film composer behind American Beauty, The Green Mile, Skyfall, and more).
5. Her father, Rob Grant, is an entrepreneur and millionaire who financed his daughter’s first album, Sirens, released under the name May Jailer.
6. Lana Del Rey’s latest video for the song Lust For Life features a collaboration with The Weeknd.
7. The singer’s sister, Chuck Grant, is a photographer who has taken pictures of Lana and appears in the music video for Ride.
8. Lana Del Rey is of Scottish descent.
9. From ages 15 to 18, while attending an elite boarding school, she drank heavily. “I got drunk every day, drank alone. When I write about what I’ve lost, I’m also writing about alcohol—it was my first love,” Lana recalls, adding that “it was the worst thing that ever happened to me.”
10. She studied at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, where she specialized in metaphysics in the philosophy department. “It’s a bridge between God and science. I was fascinated by religion and wanted to understand if it was possible to get closer to understanding where we come from and why through technology.”
11. She considers herself Catholic.
12. In 2007, she signed a recording contract worth $10,000. Leaving university (partly due to problems with math), she moved to New Jersey, where she lived in a trailer.
13. An album under the name Lizzy Grant was released in 2010; it was produced by David Kahne, who had also worked with Regina Spektor. The release was unsuccessful and went unnoticed.
14. The first video released under the name Lana Del Rey, for the song Video Games, garnered 600,000 views on YouTube in just three weeks.
15. She lives in London.
16. Her song lyrics contain references and direct quotes from Tennessee Williams (“relying on the kindness of strangers” from A Streetcar Named Desire), Walt Whitman (“I sing the body electric”), and Vladimir Nabokov (“Light of my life, fire of my loins” from Lolita).
17. She has a contract with Next Model Management and has been the face of advertising campaigns for H&M and Jaguar.
18. About twenty unreleased songs by Lana have been leaked online.
19. Her most successful video on YouTube, Born To Die, has garnered over 200 million views in three years.
20. In everyday life, she wears clothes bought from ASOS.
21. Her favorite brands are Versace and Chanel.
22. Her songs have been used in fashion shows for Dior Couture, Christopher Kane, and Emilio de la Morena.
23. The singer has a tattoo of the letter “M” on her left hand in honor of her grandmother, Madeleine, with whom Lana was very close during her childhood. On the same hand, she also has the word “Paradise” tattooed. On her right hand, there’s the phrase “Trust no one,” and on the ring finger of the same hand, “Die young.”
24. In the U.S., she has two apartments, one in New York and one in Los Angeles (where she lives with her brother and sister).
25. Lana Del Rey has composed numerous soundtracks for well-known films. One of her most recent works was the music for Tim Burton’s film Big Eyes.
26. She loves reality TV shows. Her favorite is The Real Housewives.
27. She categorically denies having had plastic surgery.
28. After learning to play the guitar, she began writing songs and has since believed that you can write a hit song with just two or three chords.
29. She is very afraid of performing on stage.
30. British Prime Minister David Cameron confessed his love for Lana Del Rey in an interview with The Telegraph, calling himself a big fan of hers.
31. She’s a vegetarian, eats “tons” of chocolate, and drinks “liters” of milk. She prefers simple cuisine and loves burgers.
32. Her favorite movies are the first two Godfather films and American Beauty.
33. She wrote the song Ghetto Baby for British singer Cheryl Cole, which became a big hit.
34. She calls herself “stingy” and can’t stand spending money.