12 Interesting Things You Need to Know About Lizzo

We list some of interesting things and facts to know about Lizzo. She’s an American singer and rapper known for hit singles such as “About Damn Time”, “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell”. The songs feature messages of staunch positivity and unabashed self-love that fans find so refreshing, whether she’s spreading them onstage in her lyrics or offstage in person or online.

1. Her real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson

Lizzo’s real name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson. She was born on April 27, 1988 in Detroit, Michigan. She moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. Later on after college she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she began her recording career in the music industry. Lizzo’s music is a mix of hip hop infused with genres such as soul, R&B and funk-pop.

2. Lizzo is a classically trained flutist

Lizzo is also well known for her ability to play the flute. The flute is one of the most popular music instruments around the world, which can be attributed to its simplicity and pleasing sound. Lizzo began playing as a child, and has continued to improve her flute playing skills into adulthood. In college, she studied classical music concentrating on flute at the University of Houston. She has also performed with her flute, which she has named Sasha Flute. She performed “Truth Hurts” at the 2019 BET Awards. Her performance at the BET Awards earned her a standing ovation from the crowd, which included Rihanna.

3. She lived out of her car for a year

Lizzo opened up to her fans about the hard times when living in her car before she became famous. Shortly after her father’s sudden death in 2009, the singer lost her job and apartment. At the age of 21, she lived out of her car for a year as she tried to break into the music industry.

@lizzo Replying to @hearmyselfthink ♬ 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) – Lizzo

In the vulnerable TikTok video, Lizzo replied to a fan who asked her about the time she was homeless: “When you were living out of your car, what are some of the thoughts you would have to stay positive? Need hope.” “I didn’t stay positive,” Lizzo admitted. “It was really hard… [but] when I look back at my life and I’m in a better place, I can look back and say, ‘Wow, I survived.’”

4. Lizzo’s become an advocate for body positivity

Lizzo has made it clear that she doesn’t work out or eat to achieve a certain kind of body others might think she should have. There are a lot of preconceived notions about body weight, especially for women in the public eye. While men are allowed to have a “dad bod,” women are often judged based on how skinny they are. For Lizzo, this meant becoming one of music’s most prominent icons for body positivity and self-acceptance. In 2014, she participated in StyleLikeU’s What’s Underneath project, where she removed her clothes as she talked about her relationships with her body.

Inspired by the experience, she wrote “My Skin”, which she described as “the thesis statement” of her second album.

In an interview with Vice, regarding body image, she said: “You can wake up and change many things about your appearance, but the inevitability of waking up in your skin is what unifies us.”

Lizzo also appeared in ModCloth’s “Say It Louder” campaign, which launched on June 11, 2018.

In the same month, she sported the first plus-size outfit made for FIT’s Future of Fashion runway show by Grace Insogna for her performance at NYC Pride’s Pride Island event.

5. Lizzo became famous from her hit song “Juice”

“Juice” is a single released on January 4, 2019, off of Lizzo’s third studio album, Cuz I Love You. It’s confident vibe and self-loving message launched Lizzo into a higher level of stardom. The song musically has a very funk and soul inspired beat, with upbeat vocals and bass. Music producer Ricky Reed who created the retro-funk banger said that “My proudest moment was at the end of the day we wrote the song — we were on cloud nine,” he recalls. “It was one of those days where you know you have a big song and everybody’s bouncing off the walls. You know: ‘Let’s have drinks!’” The song received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom referred to the song as Lizzo’s best.

The song went viral in September 2019, when it spawned an internet meme after Polygon writer Jeff Ramos cut a trailer for House House’s Untitled Goose Game using the song as its anthem.

The song was also featured in the official trailer for the 2021 film Tom & Jerry.

6. She has dated comedian Myke Wright

Lizzo has been romantically linked with Myke Wright, a comedian, after knowing him for six years before they started dating. Lizzo also appeared on Audacy Check In, and revealed that Wright had given her a nickname. “I am in love,” Lizzo said. “He has his own name for me; he calls me Melly. He’s creative.” Lizzo said he is the first man she’s dated that has ever called her by that name.

7. Her 2017 single “Truth Hurts” was a viral sleeper hit

Lizzo’s song “Truth Hurts” hit No. 1 on Billboard two years after it’s release. The song was originally released on 19 September 2017, but received attention again when it was included on Lizzo’s album Cuz I Love You. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100, and became the longest-leading solo song by a female rapper. The song also gained popularity on TikTok when it was used on the Netflix movie Someone Great.

Despite being released in 2017, the song was eligible for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020, and was nominated for three awards. It went on to win the Grammy award for Best Pop Solo Performance. Lizzo also reached a settlement to end a years-long lawsuit over her “Truth Hurts,” filed by three songwriters who claimed they helped create her Grammy-winning hit.

8. Her music influences include Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, and Beyoncé

Lizzo mentions Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill and Beyoncé as her music influences. She stated in an interview in 2018, “I was always afraid of being a singer, but then when I heard Lauryn Hill, I was like, maybe I can do both,” further adding that her debut album was inspired by The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and Hill’s ability of “rapping, singing, being political.”

She also collaborated with Missy Elliot on the single “Tempo” which was part of her third studio album Cuz I Love You. It contains lyrics about body positivity. The hope for a collaboration between the two was a desire that Lizzo never shied away from sharing, as it was living proof that passionate manifestation can help your wildest dreams come true.

9. Lizzo won three Grammy awards in 2020

Lizzo received eight nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020, the most for any artist that year, including nominations for each of the “Big Four” categories; and eventually won the awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Cuz I Love You (Deluxe), Best Pop Solo Performance for “Truth Hurts”, and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song “Jerome”. Lizzo was one of the major success stories in an especially strong year for new musical acts, with Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish also rising to prominence.

10. Her song “About Damn Time”, peaked at No. 1 on Billboard

Lizzo’s single “About Damn Time” reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The song is the lead single from her fourth studio album Special released on April 14, 2022. This made it Lizzo’s second Hot 100 lead single after her 2019 single “Truth Hurts” dominated the chart for seven weeks starting from September 2019.

11. She’s won a Primetime Emmy Award

Lizzo was the host of the Amazon Prime Video reality television series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Competition Program. The Amazon reality series, which follows the pop mega-star as she searches for a new squad of backup dancers to join her world tour, also beat The Amazing Race, Nailed It!, Top Chef and The Voice as well as RuPaul’s Drag Race. “When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media, someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me,” the superstar said while accepting the award.

12. Time magazine named Lizzo as “Entertainer of the Year”

Lizzo was named Time magazine’s Entertainer of the Year in 2019. “I’ve been doing positive music for a long-ass time,” she said in Time. “Then the culture changed. There were a lot of things that weren’t popular but existed, like body positivity, which at first was a form of protest for fat bodies and black women and has now become a trendy, commercialized thing. Now I’ve seen it reach the mainstream. Suddenly I’m mainstream!” The accompanying article about her, by essayist Samantha Irby, is filled with the instant-jolt-of-empowerment quotes Lizzo has a genius for tossing off. In the piece, she talks about the vulnerability of experiencing fame in an especially highly scrutinized body. “I think it’s healthy to have a relationship with your naked body, even if no one ever sees it,” she says.

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