F**ked My Way Up to the Top: The Complete Biography of Lana Del Rey Using Her Own Words

by Jared Woods

"If you are born an artist, you have no choice but to fight to stay an artist." ― Lana Del Rey

With her latest album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Lana Del Rey has again proven herself as one of the most crucial and original female musicians of the 21st century. So let this celebrity biography reveal the full story of Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, largely told in Lana's own words using hundreds of interviews and public statements.

We connect the dots between Lana's humble Catholic school beginnings, her teenage troubles with alcoholism, and her earliest unknown recordings as May Jailer/Lizzy Grant. We explore how the ruthless streets of New York City and the noir of Los Angeles struck a chord of nostalgic romance in Lana's creative mind, seeking retro Hollywood glamour at whatever cost, transforming into the multi-platinum "gangster Nancy Sinatra" superstar we love today. And we illustrate how the accusations of toxic femininity and a fabricated past could never compromise her vision; instead, the opposition provided even stronger material for her unique artistic dedication, selling millions of records across the globe.

More importantly, this book delves deep into her music, where Lana has always felt the most comfortable sharing personal details. We document her hundreds of unreleased songs, her biggest hits (such as the viral sensation Video Games), her soundtrack contributions (The Great Gatsby, Maleficent, Big Eyes), and her collaboration work with The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, and Stevie Nicks. Furthermore, we passionately analyse each of her eight studio albums, including the critically acclaimed Born to Die, Ultraviolence, Honeymoon, and Norman F**king Rockwell!. In doing so, we present a commercially successful career that hides within the darker underbelly of the pop world, just like her cult following prefers it.

For dedicated fans only, here is everything there is to know about the real Lana Del Rey.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

418 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2023

About the author

Born in South Africa and now a homeless nomad, Jared has explored and gathered inspiration from over 70 countries and counting. Additionally, he reads the central scripture from a different religion every year, deepening his understanding of numerous faiths and cultures. This curiosity and dedication to broad theology have greatly influenced his latest fiction book, "The Lamb Prophecy", where Jared blends fantasy with deep spiritual themes, constructing a world rich with combined mythology.

Jared is also the author of the “In Her Own Words” series of biographies about female musicians. Thus far, these include "Stay Soft, Get Eaten" for Mitski, "When a Song Ends in a Minor Key" for Fiona Apple, and the phenomenally popular "F**ked My Way Up To The Top" for Lana Del Rey. These are available right now.

There are many other works under Jared's name, such as the spiritual philosophy of the "Janthopoyism Bible", the self-help publication "Heartbreak Sucks! How to Get Over Your Breakup in 30 Days", and the collection of short stories "Licking the Bottom of the Love Jar".

Keep up with Jared on Instagram @legotrip

Reviews

[Selah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Holy Bible for Lana Del Rey fans

“The saddest flower was not sad whatsoever, rather it provided the cure to sadness…”

If you’re a Lana Del Rey fan or just someone that wants to know more about her, you must read this book! The book is such an easy read and so chronically put together from the start to current time of her career.
I rarely read any biographies mainly because they're never written to keep the reader entertained but Mr.Woods nailed this one. I loved the little quotes from Lana and anyone involved in her songs that explained the events happening in her career. It added so much more character and meaning to the summaries, rather than just giving us the timeline with no background information.
I was nervous at first to read this. It's not the first time an author has written or used Lana's words to grab the attention of her fans but this was beautifully written.

I have to add this quote that was put at the end to wrap up the biography. It’s one of my favorite quotes from Lana by far:

“Find someone who has a life that you want and figure out how they got it. Read books, pick your role models wisely, find out what they did and do it.”
― Lana Del Rey

[Getlyn♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, let me just gather a row of applause for the absolutely queen Lana, who I have worshipped for the past 10 years and will continue to do so. ❤️

It was immensely detailed to the core and I learned a lot more about her but unfortunately that's where it ended- except the gorgeous album covers I could stare at forever and quotes from Lana's interviews it desperately lacked the depth I was hoping for.. If it had been collaborated with Lana and she was the one telling her story, it would've definitely been a 5 stars.

Still an enjoyable read and kudos to Jared Woods for all the research. I was shocked at the amount of her song count- I have yet so much to discover!!

[desi carey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Less of a memoir, reads more like a high schoolers term paper report listing facts, dates and presumptions. No actual interviews, dialogue or personal accounts.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It's all about how you feel, not about what other people think."

[⋆ ˚｡ milly ⋆୨୧˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful way to introduce lana to people who have misjudged her for her style of music. this biography is a truly amazing resource to help people to understand the woman and how she’s become who she is today.

[Kyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lana Del Rey Bible.

Perfection. Lana is easily one of the best artists of our time.

[Claire Kolbé ʚϊɞ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thoroughly well written biography. Really worth the read on what Lana is all about. Highly recommended.

[Tatiana Argabright · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 actually - and I really just wish there was more depth to some of the book. For instance, there has been talk that Lana was part of some sort of near-cult sobriety group back in her pre-BTD days. Some of the content on Ultraviolence was inspired by those days. I had hoped that this book might shed further light on this subject. I wish the book had also gone more into her childhood - we know she grew up in upstate New York, we know she went to boarding school at some point, but where does the death of her ex boyfriend (mentioned in the song Fingertips") fit into all of this? What about that time she went on a date with Moby? She alludes to doing outreach work while living in the trailer park in Jersey, is this when she was involved in that cult-adjacent group? (I just keep coming back to the cult thing haha)

[Brooke Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always had an inkling for LDR ever since she released her first album ‘Born to Die’ since a lot of what she writes and sings about are heavily relatable. This is a nice read if you also share an obsession with LDR or just wanting to get to know her a bit more, but I do agree with other readers that this reads more like a book report & a lot of the “facts” are just hearsay & are not backed up by actual evidence. Although it is listed as a biography, a lot of this book just references snippets taken from interviews & there were a lot of parts in the book I wish I had more clarification on, like her childhood, relationships, etc. It’s also hard to write about biography on someone who is still living & the book did not state anything about her marriage even if this book was purportedly published 2023-2025. However, I am glad that there is at least some type of literature that does focus on LDR since the only others I could find is her own poetry book, “Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass” which I will be reading next.

[Mihkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute to read it and reminisce about my teenage years, since I’ve been obsessed with her from the first album. It was a well done research, even though I knew most of the stuff beforehand. And in some moments I even knew more about the situation/context/lyrics than the writer himself.
But it was still a nice cute read, best part obviously being where Lana speaks about her journey and creative processes through the quotes. Now we just have to wait for mother’s own autobiography.

Also, I gotta say that the book title can be very misleading because we know Lana did not do that (and if anyone can do it then props to you, it just wasn’t the case here). The author didn’t explain why he chose this title, but I know he just wanted to grab attention with it to sell more, and for that I say POW!👊🏻💢

[Jana Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[wik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was never a fan of biographies but this one is so well written that I actually really enjoyed that. A throughout story about Lana's life. If Jared Woods was to write a biography of some others of my favourite artists I would 100% read it.

[Jess Lazenby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible!!! So so interesting and accurate!! Only downside... One of the lyrics in an included song was wrong... It didn't bother me but made me think 'Oh, hang on, have I been wrong this whole time?!'

[rose🌱 · Rating 5 out of 5]

very well written. i learned a lot about Lana. she truly is my favorite artist.
“it’s all about how you feel, not about what other people think”

[Carolina Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an immense fun to read. Not only the style is very engaging, mixing lyrics, interviews and public declarations to the most emblematic events (presented in chronologic order) of the artist but also all is presented with remarkable sense of humour.



The style of this narrative ressembles a bit "Fragments" by Marilyn Monroe, an obvious inspiration of Del Rey herself, as we can see in the National Anthem video:

link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxDdEPED0h8


and I find this to be a very accurate choice of the author
because Elizabeth Grant's temper & artistic sensitivity is frankly similar to Norma Jeane's. These are two women who created characters to project images they chose for themselves and became, at some point, engulfed by their own creation.


Being from South America, it is not always easy to gather information about artists of our upper neighbourhoods and I was quite delighted to find this biography, as it fills all blanks I had about Lana del Rey.


As a well known fan of Lana del Rey, I'm not dissapointed at all!

[ballory · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved hearing more about lanas personal life and the behind the scenes from all of her songs! though i do wish the honeymoon era went into more detail!!

[henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok then…

[Mayra Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly loved reading this biography that features one of my favorite artists. Thank you Jared, for bringing to life this delightful read. I adored how there are excerpts in Lana’s own words about how she feels and thinks, and we get to know her a little bit more throughout these tidbits.

The book is written in a chronological order that begins from Lana’s early childhood and it ends with present day today. I do wish there was more about Lana from her early days. I do feel that section was glossed over quickly and it could have been longer. I wanted to know more about Lana’s mom and dad, her brother and sister as well, even who were her closest friends who inspired her on in her early childhood and teenage hood days. I wanted to know more about things like that.

I will be honest, I wasn’t a Lana stan when she first came out back in 2012 with her debut in Born to Die. I did like Lana, but at that time I was just a casual fan. You know, just knowing the trendy hits like Summertime Sadness and Ultraviolence. I didn’t fully get into her music until 2017. I knew I liked her music, but I never got to delve deep to discover the rest of what she has to offer. It was instant regret that I didn’t discover her sooner. It’s like you know when an artist is really good, but you don’t look up their music because you’re like “I’ll do it later” and when you actually do you’ve hit a goldmine and instantly regret not doing it a long time ago. That was literally me when I didn’t listen to Lana’s music before. It feels like you have deprived yourself of cold fresh water and you have just arrived at a lush oasis to finally step into the shade and quench yourself after a long time.

I loved that with this biography, we get to know more about Lana’s different eras. Honeymoon is my favorite album. It’s very insightful to some of us fans who started listening to her later in time (like myself) who wasn’t there since the beginning and we get to learn more about her through this book. I loved how her unreleased music was mentioned and where in time those songs were actually made and what era they belonged to. I really liked that addition. I adored reading this biography and I believe it’ll be a swift and wonderful read for anyone who has been a diehard Lana stan or someone who just recently started listening to her and wants to know more about their new favorite artist. Either way, it’ll be an awesome read.

[Stephanie Cheek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book title was a little cringey for me, as I’ve always thought that song name gives the wrong idea about Lana, but if you’re a fan you know that messy themes is kind of part of her genre. Nonetheless, she’s such a mysterious person that I was curious to learn more about her so I took on reading this bio. What a journey she’s had, but she most certainly did not sleep her way to the top, which she is quoted in the book clarifying.

I enjoyed learning about her personal life, as she’s very private compared to other celebrities and music artists. It was still a bit spotty though, which isn’t the author’s fault as he dug into as much as was out there, I’m sure. I felt that the majority of the book though became a lot of how well (or not well) her songs and albums fared with critics and album sales. That got to be tiresome for me. I’d rather have focused on her personal life and information about her artistic inspiration. And as much as the author did a great job combing the media for quotations and history, there still seemed to be opportunity for some more context around some of the stories to fill in with some additional info. One example is her Glastonbury show cut her power before she finished her set. It would’ve been helpful to note why (it was a festival with a strict curfew) so the reader wouldn’t need to Google and find out some lingering questions. Otherwise I enjoyed learning more about her as an artist, and overall the book was quite thorough.

[Derek Neveu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this read interesting, but more so because I find Lana interesting, not because of the writing itself. Woods is an excellent gatherer and synthesizer of information, but sadly I don’t feel the same about his writing. The usage of Lana’s own words was unique and clever, but at times they felt disjointed, forced, and their usage reflected more about the author’s motivations and less about Lana’s. While I don’t think this is the worst thing ever written, and there are moments of authorial skill on display (see the introduction and concluding sentiments), I do feel a lot of the 5 star love is more a reflection of the readers affinity for Lana, not for the book itself. My urge to 5 star anything that is related to Lana Del Rey is strong, but the urge to be thoughtful and honest about what I read is stronger. So, even though Lana Del Rey will always be a 5 star artist in my eyes, sadly this book was not.

[jay ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omgosh, if someone takes a Grammy from this woman ONE MORE TIME!!!

But seriously, go read this book because it is ✨AMAZING✨ just like the queen herself 🥰

[Celia Wainwright · Rating 3 out of 5]

F**ked My Way Up to the Top is the portrait of an incredible woman painted by a mediocre biographer. Although dense in facts, reviews, and cited interviews, there are moments within the biography where these are simply enumerated, rather than integrated, within the text, with little authorial detail or discussion between. Moreover, when the latter feature, they make one wish Woods hadn't bothered. I think it important to consider that biographing a still-living person—never mind an artist or author—is no easy feat. While Woods manages to pull this off throughout the majority of the text, there are some instants (in addition to numerous unchecked typos) that suffer from an entropic fall into bathos; one which only seems to worsen as the biography progresses. Where some of this bathos patently arises from the fact that Lana Del Rey is still a very much living artist, one can't help but wonder if Woods might've spent more than five seconds editing it. For example, when discussing the preliminary renditions of Say Yes To Heaven, a 2023 single of Del Rey's that had been in the works as early as 2014, prior to its release, Woods simply copies and pastes the exact same line—probably added into the biography after the song itself was officially released, in the same year that it was released—as illustrated below:

Yes To Heaven was later rerecorded for Honeymoon and Lust For Life but was scrapped each time. There are reportedly over 100 mixes of the song. Many versions have leaked. But is there an official release? Just wait to find out!

As previously noted, Ultraviolence's Yes To Heaven was also recorded for Honeymoon and Lust For Life but was scrapped the whole way. Some versions have leaked. But is there an official release? Just wait to find out!

Lust For Life made another desperate attempt at getting a satisfactory version of Yes To Heaven on an album, but for the third time in a row, the record said no. But is there an official release? Just wait to find out!

Reports state that Yes To Heaven was considered but rejected for this album [Chemtrails Over The Country Club] (the fourth or even fifth time this has happened). But is there an official release? Just wait to find out!

Remember Yes To Heaven? [As though we could forget it after Wood's painstaking and, indeed, painful efforts to reiterate its existence...] Is there an official release? Omg, there is!

Ultimately, the biography is badly written; even most of the above citations count issues in either spelling or grammar. These, I have taken to omitting—apart from the 'Omg!' in the lattermost, which sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Brittany Hansell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography is fantastic.

It is put together perfectly and methodically, with a lot of whimsical nature you can tell the author Jared has.

I struggle to concentrate on reading, and this book/ biography actually held my attention so well.

It is filled with fun quotes and extensive and documented research with quotes and dates.

I have also personally spoken with Jared via social media and he is a lovely and genuine person.

[Isabella Carpentier · Rating 4 out of 5]

“My gift is the warmth I live my life with and the self reflection I share generously”

I have never read an autobiography of an artist before; it was extremely telling and opening to read one of my favorite artist. The author has selected amazing quotes that truly highlight the aura Lana Del Rey carries while maintaining the easy-to-read nature of this book.

[Natalie U · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars! Every Lana fan needs to read this book. My appreciation for Lana as an artist and person has greatly increased. This book showed me a deeper understanding of the lyrics I have resonated with and have helped me through hard times over the years. Super cool to get a look into what the lyrics of these songs mean. I loved learning about the challenges Lana has overcome in her career.

[Alyssa Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ive been a Lana “Stan” for 10+ years now. I find this book to be very well thought out and put together. As a Stan who lived out most of these eras in real time, I find some of the info to be inaccurate (release dates, relationships, etc) so I am setting on 4 stars.

[Kearsten Sexton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The actual writing was nothing great and there were even some mistakes (namely on the first page, the wrong song was cited). However this is the most complete and cohesive bio of Lana published, and I loved all of the quotes and new information. For that it gets 5 stars.

[Cortney BeesInTheBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In the end, the saddest flower was not sad whatsoever. Rather, it provided the cure to sadness, conversing with the emotional vacancy. Everyone feels on occasion and then filling that emptiness with harmonious music”.

[Tony Batt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you ever wanted to know about Lan Del Rey, in her own words beautifully put together with wit and verve.

[Kerryn Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting & cleverly written- has sparked a previously non-existent interest in LDR!