Lana Del Rey's journey to this stardom was a long, steady climb. By the time of albums like 2019's Grammy-nominated Norman Fucking Rockwell!, 2021's Blue Banisters, and 2023's Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, Del Rey's character of the damaged torch singer and tragic romantic icon had become nuanced and complex, and her increasingly orchestrated and often cuttingly direct songwriting had evolved in tandem. Her popularity grew after a hit remix of her single 'Summertime Sadness' and her second LP, 2014's Ultraviolence, received positive reviews to accompany her sales. Del Rey's sound and persona were in their rudimentary forms on her 2012 debut album, Born to Die, but both became more personal with subsequent releases.
Lana Del Rey is one part songwriting superpower, one part constructed character, building a Southern California dream world of manufactured melancholy and genuine glamour in her stylized, meticulously arranged noir-pop songs and becoming an incredibly influential indie superstar in the process.
