Inspirational People #3

After some thought, I decide my inspirational person most recently has been Lana Del Rey, the singer. This past semester at college I listened to her music almost every day. Her voice is soothing but powerful. I also love her music videos, they've inspired multiple pages in my sketch book and I would often listen to her songs during art class when working on projects.

Now for a little more information about the sultry American singer: First off, she was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant on June 21st, 1986. Besides going by Lana Del Rey, she is also known by her other stage names such as Lana Del Rey Mar, Lizzy Grant, May Jailer, and Sparkle Jump Rope Queen. She’s a New York native that brings references from pop culture, other singers, a few being Elvis, Janis Joplin, and Eminem, as well as looking to poetry and film noir for inspiration. On top of theses her songs and music videos bring a sense of the 1950s and 1960s Americana feel. While her music career had a bumpy start and she often changed her stage names with each new attempt, she found a different road to go down before her first major CD. At age 20 she had moved to a trailer outside of NYC, and after her record was shelved, she turned her focus around and started focusing on community outreach and helping others. In 2012 Lana Del Ray told Vogue, “Homeless outreach, drug, and alcohol rehabilitation—that's been my life for the past five years” (Sowray). Later, in October 2011, she changed her name again to Lana Del Rey and signed a joint record deal with Interscope Records and Polydor (Sowray). However it wasn’t until January 2012 that her debut album, “Born To Die,” was released and it charted at number one on the UK Album Chart (Sowray). Since then she’s released another album, several music videos, and managed to win quite a number of awards beating out other top musical artists in the process. She’s even on the track for the movie “The Great Gatsby.”

Lana Del Rey. http://www.lanadelrey.com/gallery

One reason I look to Lana Del Rey for inspiration is her looks, which are unusual but in a great way. She looks classic but futuristic and when paired with her voice everything just flows together and makes the whole package even better. On choosing her name she explained to Vogue, “I wanted a name I could shape the music toward. I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba- Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside. It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue" (Sowray).

So, for many reasons Lana Del Rey is a wonderful inspirational person, and I picked her because her music and the videos she creates for them make people feel and experience the words of her songs. I urge you to listen to her music or look up even more information about her if she intrigues you.

Works Cited

Sowray, Bibby. "Who's Who Lana Del Rey." Vogue. 10 February 2012. Web. <http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/lana-del-rey>.