Laufey (singer)

Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir was born on 23 April 1999 in Reykjavík, Iceland's capital. Her father is Icelandic and her mother is Chinese,^[3] hailing from Guangzhou.^[4] Her mother is a classical violinist and her grandfather, Lin Yaoji [zh], was a violin educator at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, which Laufey credits as partly inspiring her love of music.^[5][6] She has an identical twin sister named Júnía Lín Jónsdóttir, who is a violinist and serves as her creative director.^[7][8] She lived in Washington, D.C., for two years and then moved back to Reykjavík in 2008, where she studied at the Álftamýrarskóli.^[9] Laufey started learning the piano at the age of four and the cello at the age of eight. She graduated from the Reykjavík College of Music, where she also studied singing, in 2018.^[10] She spent her childhood moving between Reykjavík and Washington, D.C., as well as visiting Beijing.^[11]

At age 15, Laufey performed as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.^[12] While in Iceland, Laufey participated in the 2014 edition of Ísland Got Talent—the Icelandic version of Got Talent—where she ended as a finalist. The following year she also appeared as a contestant on The Voice Iceland and reached the semi-finals. At the time, she was the youngest competitor in the series' history.^[13]

Laufey graduated with a presidential scholarship from the Berklee College of Music in 2021. As of October 2023^[update], she resides in Los Angeles.^[4][14]

On 6 April 2020, Laufey released her debut single, "Street by Street", which charted at number one on Icelandic Radio.^[15] She then launched her first EP, Typical of Me, which she calls her little baby, on 30 April 2021. It includes "Street by Street" and six other songs, many of which were written in her college dorm room. Rolling Stone particularly praised her rendition of "I Wish You Love".^[16] American Songwriter included the EP in its list of best albums of 2021.^[17] Additionally, Typical of Me received attention from musicians such as Willow Smith and Billie Eilish.^[7]

The same year, Laufey hosted a weekly music show on BBC Radio 3 during spring and summer (and once again during December for a Christmas special) called Happy Harmonies, on which she highlighted uplifting music in a wide variety of genres.^[18][19] In November, Laufey performed at the London Jazz Festival.^[6] Around the same time, she collaborated with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, to release her song "Let You Break My Heart Again".^[7] In December, she collaborated with singer Dodie to release another single, "Love To Keep Me Warm", their cover of "Winter Weather" by Ted Shapiro.^[20][21]

2022 marked Laufey's United States network television debut when she appeared as the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 21 January; there, she played her song "Like the Movies" from Typical of Me.^[22] After five months, her debut album, Everything I Know About Love, was released on 26 August 2022 via AWAL to critical acclaim.^[23] On Billboard's Alternative New Artist Album chart, the album peaked at number one on its debut.^[24]

In August 2023, it was announced that Laufey signed a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music (WCM).^[24] Her second album, Bewitched, was released on 8 September 2023.^[25] A week before the release, she leaked the sheet music for fans to be able to pre-save the album.^[26] It was met with critical acclaim and garnered Laufey's first Grammy Award, for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards,^[27] where she performed with Billy Joel on his closing number, "Turn the Lights Back On."^{[citation needed]}

Influences and music style

Although Laufey was influenced by classical music, classical artists such as Frédéric Chopin,^[28] and played it from an early age, she turned to her father's records of female jazz musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to develop her musical style.^[4] She has cited Fitzgerald and Chet Baker as her biggest artistic influences, naming the former as her favorite musician. Laufey also cited Taylor Swift, Norah Jones, and Adele as inspirations for her musicianship; she said "[Taylor Swift] has done for pop and country what I hope to do for jazz. She has managed to unite people across the world which is one of my main goals as a musician."^[29][30]

The genre of Laufey's music style has been subject for debate. She describes her genre as jazz or jazz pop, while organizations such as National Public Radio,^[31] the New York Times, and The Sydney Morning Herald^[32] have noted that her music includes elements of jazz, pop, bossa nova, and classical, describing the entirety as traditional pop or old-time pop due to the blend of styles in her songs into one.^[33]

Critical acclaim

Many critics such as Maura Judkis, an editor at the Washington Post,^[34] and editor Murray Stassen from Music Business Worldwide^[35] noted that Laufey is "bringing back" jazz to Gen Z, as the genre has largely declined commercially, and has received less recognition than other genres when compared to its heyday. In a 2023 article, Music journalist Michael Dwyer of The Sydney Morning Herald described her as a "TikTok jazz ambassador".^[32] Organizations such as Billboard and National Public Radio opined that Laufey created a blueprint for the success of jazz in the music industry today, helping push the genre back into the mainstream scene.^[30][36] Her second album, Bewitched, received praise from critics due to its composition and her take on jazz. The album received a score of 83 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[37] Morgan Enos, writer at Grammys.com, wrote that Bewitched's success shows Laufey has left "jazz neophytes spellbound".^[38]

Fashion

Laufey is characterized by her simple and casual fashion style,^[39] mixing elements such as lace, pastel colors, and bright metallic elements into her clothing.^[40] Vogue and the South China Morning Post have described her fashion style as an "extension to her music",^[11] citing a blend of lukewarm colors and jazz-esque clothing incorporated to her clothing during appearances and stage performances.^[8]

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other charted songs

Notes