Global InformationBorn to Die information
| Born to Die | ||||
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| Studio album by Lana Del Rey | ||||
| Released | January 27, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | 2010–2011 | |||
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| Length | 49:28 | |||
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| Lana Del Rey chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Born to Die | ||||
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Born to Die is the debut major-label and second studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 27, 2012, through Interscope Records and Polydor Records. A reissue of the album, subtitled The Paradise Edition, was released on November 9, 2012. The new material from the reissue was also made available on a separate EP titled Paradise.
Before the album's release, Del Rey had attracted attention with her 2011 singles "Video Games" and "Born to Die", which contrasted contemporary electronic/dance music with their cinematic sound accompanied by dramatic string instruments. A predominantly baroque pop and trip hop album, Born to Die features the same cinematic composition. The lyrics are about love, sex, and drugs, and feature prominent references to 1950s and 1960s Americana. The album was the world's fifth best-selling album of 2012. In 2023, it became the second album by a woman to spend more than 500 weeks on the US Billboard 200, where it peaked at number two, and topped charts in Australia and various European countries including France, Germany, and the UK.
Born to Die was supported by four further singles: "Blue Jeans", "Summertime Sadness", "National Anthem", and "Dark Paradise". "Summertime Sadness" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Del Rey's highest charting single in the US at the time. The album polarized contemporary critics; praises were towards the album's distinctive sound, and criticism targeted its repetitiveness and melodramatic tendencies. Del Rey's image during promotion of Born to Die was controversial; tabloid media accused her of an inauthentic persona that was the result of forced marketing to gain an audience in the indie music scene. Although initially receiving ambivalent reception, the album has been retrospectively ranked in best-of lists by several publications including The Guardian and NME, and helped Del Rey acquire cult status among music fans.[1][2]
- ^ Brown, Jacob (June 17, 2014). "Is the World Ready to Stop Judging Lana Del Rey?". Vogue. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
- ^ Shouneyia, Alexa (January 31, 2017). "Happy Birthday, 'Born To Die': The Best Lyrics From Each Track". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2019.