Born to Die

This article is about the album by Lana Del Rey. For the song, see Born to Die (song). For other uses, see Born to Die (disambiguation).

Born to Die
A light-skinned, auburn-haired woman is dressed in a sheer white blouse and red bra and is staring forward before a blue-skied background. The words "Lana Del Rey" are placed above her while the words "Born to Die" are placed beneath her, stylized in all capital letters.
Studio album by
Lana Del Rey
ReleasedJanuary 27, 2012 (2012-01-27)
Recorded2010–2011
Studio
Genre
Length49:28
Label
Producer
Lana Del Rey chronology
Lana Del Rey
(2012) 		Born to Die
(2012) 		Paradise
(2012)
Singles from Born to Die
  1. "Video Games"
    Released: October 7, 2011
  2. "Born to Die"
    Released: December 30, 2011
  3. "Blue Jeans"
    Released: March 30, 2012
  4. "National Anthem"
    Released: June 15, 2012
  5. "Summertime Sadness"
    Released: June 22, 2012
  6. "Dark Paradise"
    Released: March 1, 2013

Born to Die is the second and debut major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter and record producer 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. Despite an initially 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]

  1. ^ Brown, Jacob (June 17, 2014). "Is the World Ready to Stop Judging Lana Del Rey?". Vogue. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Shouneyia, Alexa (January 31, 2017). "Happy Birthday, 'Born To Die': The Best Lyrics From Each Track". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2019.