The Evolution of Lana Del Rey | HuffPost Entertainment

This article originally appeared on Profoundly Human

An analysis of how Lizzy Grant became one of the biggest stars of our time by creating an illusion of nostalgia.

Just about to embark on her Endless Summer tour, the highly criticized and equally celebrated Lana Del Rey has been a person of interest and intrigue for fans and skeptics alike. Whether you like her music or not, she's made a name for herself and has an astronomical following to prove it. But what makes her music so addicting to the thousands of diehard LDR fans? Well I can tell you it isn't just the sound. More so, it's the particular emotion it evokes, and to understand this we have to understand the person behind it.

Before the dramatic and daring Lana Del Rey emerged, there was Lizzy Grant, who started performing at age 21 in New York bars and open mic nights just like every other aspiring singer in the city. Grant's voice, albeit familiar, was quiet and lacking in confidence then. In one of her early shows, she stands on a dimly lit stage sporting a T-shirt, jeans, and blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail - a casual look that counters everything we associate with the glamor queen we know now.

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