Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, born June 21, 1985, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer and songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, containing references to contemporary pop culture and 1950s–1960s Americana. She is the recipient of various accolades, including two Brit Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for six Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century."

In fall 2004, at age 19, Grant enrolled at Fordham University in The Bronx where she majored in philosophy, with an emphasis on metaphysics. She has said she chose to study the subject 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.

Del Rey possesses an expansive contralto vocal range, which spans three-plus octaves and has been described as captivating and highly emotive, ranging from high notes in a girlish timbre to jazzy ornaments in her lower gesture with great ease.

Her sixth studio album, Norman F---ing Rockwell!, was released on August 30, 2019. The album received widespread critical acclaim, and, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, is the best-reviewed album of Del Rey's career to date. Rob Sheffield wrote that "the long-awaited Norman F---ing Rockwell is even more massive and majestic than everyone hoped it would be. Lana turns her finest album into a tour of sordid American dreams, going deep cover in all our nation's most twisted fantasies of glamour and danger," and ultimately deemed the album a "pop classic". The album was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year and Song of the Year for its title track.

Named after 20th-century illustrator, Norman Rockwell, the album is a commentary on the state of the US. Rockwell specialized in creating highly stylized scenes from 20th-century life, often painted to ignore the realities of the time, until he became more politically aware. Del Rey offers an interesting parallel with a unique combination of soft innocence and harsh reality throughout.

“So the title track is called ‘Norman F---ing Rockwell’ and it’s kind of about this guy who is such a genius artist but he thinks he’s the shit and he knows it and he like won’t shut up talking about it,” she said at the time. “So often I ended up with these creative types or whatever, and you know, they just go on and on about themselves, and I’m like, ‘Yeah yeah.'”

Del Rey sets the scene by evoking the legacy of Norman Rockwell, both in the title of the album, the titular song and by referencing his name throughout the fourteen tracks. Rockwell, a popular artist throughout the 20th century, made his career through illustrations which depicted domestic scenes of American everyday life. Through his art, Rockwell captured the very essence of the American Dream. However, these works, unsurprisingly, focused on the greener side of the grass, romanticizing much of the true American experience.

In reality, the American Dream excluded many from its idealistic embrace. The dark underbelly absent from much of Rockwell’s artist works was — and still is — characterized by rampant racism, poverty, drug use, inequality and more. In fact, it was Rockwell’s idealism of American daily life which earned him varying degrees of condemnation from critics, despite his popularity and success. Thus, Rockwell’s legacy recalls not only what is evident in his artwork, but more so what is absent from his work.

Del Rey named the album Norman F---ing Rockwell! because she liked the name. "There is something familiar about the name, nostalgia in a couple words I suppose". And then I like the f---ing in the middle. Just to let you know there's a little bit of lightness somewhere in the album."

I guess it’s a sign of the times that people accept the bad mannered tasteless vulgarity and blatant disrespect of a deceased famous painter for notoriety and financial gain.