Lizzo was born Melissa Viviane Jefferson in April 1988 in Detroit, Michigan. Her family relocated to Houston, Texas, when she was ten years old. She began rapping as a teen and, at the age of 14, founded the Cornrow Inner Circle. Around this time, she was given the nickname “Lizzo” as a play on “Lissa” in the style of Jay-Z’s “Izzo (H.O.VA).”
She studied music at the College of Houston, concentrating on the flute.
At the age of 21, she decided to pursue a musical career full-time and, surprise, lived out of her car for a time. She was a founding member of the groups The Goblet, The Clerb, Grrrl Prty, Absynthe, and Ellypseas.
Lizzo’s presentation studio compilation “Lizzobangers” was released in October 2013. She then released the albums “Huge Grrrl Little World” in 2015 and “Cuz I Love You” in 2019. Her single “Juice” charted at #23 in the United States and #14 in Scotland. Lizzo has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Gathering Legends, Full Front Facing with Samantha Honey Bee, Articulate with Jim Cotter, RuPaul’s Race, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show Featuring Jimmy Fallon, 2 Dope Sovereigns, Brad Neely’s Harg Nailin’ Sclopio Peepio, Wonderland, and Sasquatch!. In 2019, she voiced Lydia in the film UglyDolls.
