Now, Lizzo is well known for her catchy songs and body-positive message, but before she gained the recognition that she has today, what was her first song?
Lizzo’s first song was released several years before she gained global recognition as a musician. As a child, she was part of a girl group, inspired by Destiny’s Child, and wrote the song ‘Broken Households’.
Read more about Lizzo’s life and music, as well as the beginnings of her career, below.
Who is Lizzo?
Lizzo, full name Melissa Viviane Jefferson, was born in Detroit. She lives with her parents and two older siblings.
As a child, she performed in her church choir but was yet to become hungry for a career in music. She enjoyed writing fiction and was academically able, dreaming of becoming an astronaut.
When she was nine years old, the family relocated to Houston. Her parents owned a real estate business and were keen to pursue the more lucrative Texas property market.
“I didn’t even get to really process leaving,” she recalls.
It was in Houston that she took up playing the flute, an instrument she quickly realized she was skilled at. “I was just so good at flute,” she recalls.
She also began her vocal career in Texas, firstly singing with and writing songs for friends. The first song she created for her childhood band was ‘Broken Households’, which detailed the experiences of children with separated parents, though this did not reflect her own experiences.
After high school, she began studying music at the University of Houston, though she dropped out of college aged 20. Her passion for music continued, however, and she began performing as part of a progressive rock band.
In 2009, Lizzo’s father died. Simultaneously, she found herself in financial difficulty, a period she has spoken about openly.
In an Instagram post, she writes “2009 was the year my daddy died…the year I lived in my car and cried myself to sleep on thanksgiving.”
Career
In 2011, following a difficult few years, Lizzo moved to Minneapolis with a friend.
She soon formed the girl group ‘The Chalice’ who released their first music in 2012, with ‘Push It’ becoming the band’s first song.
The band received positive attention, with reviewers commenting that the band would have “No issue getting the attention that is warranted.” The band received some recognition, counting the icon Prince among their fans.
In 2016, Lizzo got her big break as a solo artist when she signed to the label Atlantic Records. She soon released ‘Coconut Oil’, her first EP with the label, which featured the track ‘Good As Hell’.
In 2019, she bagged her first number one hit with ‘Truth Hurts’, with the song spending an impressive 42 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
She performed the track at the MTV Video Music Awards, along with previous single ‘Good As Hell’, which brought the three-year-old song back into the spotlight. A few months later, the song received yet more attention when Ariana Grande’s vocals were added onto a remixed version.
The album ‘Cuz I Love You’ was released in the same year and received sales success. Rolling Stone described the album as “Legend-making” and said it was “full of self-love anthems.”
The musician does not stick solely to vocals – she regularly incorporates her flute into performances. The instrument features on her songs, and she frequently performs with it on stage.
At the BET Awards, Lizzo performed ‘Truth Hurts’, playing the flute in her performance. The performance received a standing ovation from the audience, which included a flurry of high profile musicians.
In early 2020, she played at the Sydney Opera House to a sold-out crowd.
Her stardom has been recognized with several high profile awards, including the prestigious Grammys. She has received eight Grammy nominations, with three wins.