Born to Die
Born to Die is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter 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.
This article is about the album by Lana Del Rey. For other uses, see Born to Die (disambiguation).Born to Die
January 27, 2012
2010–2011
- Electric Lady (New York City)
- The Cutting Room (New York City)
49:28
- Stranger
- Interscope
- Polydor
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. Although initially receiving 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]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United Kingdom, Born to Die sold 50,000 copies on its first day of release.[117] It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold 116,745 copies. By accumulating digital sales of 50,007, the album became the fifth album ever to sell upwards of 50,000 downloads in a single week.[118] Additionally, it was the fastest selling album of 2012, becoming the first album to reach 100,000 copies sold in that year.[119] Born to Die remained atop the chart in its second week, selling an additional 60,000 copies.[120] In the UK, the album was certified 4× platinum[121] and by March 2023 had sold 1.4 million copies.[122]
In France, the album debuted at number one on the French Albums Chart with sales of 48,791, whose 16,968 digital copies.[123] The album remained at the top position the following week with 23,888 copies sold.[124] As of June 2014, it has sold over 500,000 copies in France.[125] In New Zealand, the album debuted and peaked at number two on the charts, spending forty weeks in the chart. After the conjunction of Born to Die: The Paradise Edition, the album charted at number six.[126] "Born to Die" is the fifty-seventh best charting album of all time in New Zealand.[127]
In the United States, the album attained first-week sales of 77,000 copies, subsequently debuting at number two on the Billboard 200, behind Adele's 21,[128] and shipped over 500,000 units in the country by January 2013, getting Gold certification.[129] On the week ending August 31, 2013, though the album was in its eighty-first week on the chart, it re-entered the top twenty at number 20, selling 13,000 copies. As of January 2024, Born to Die has sold 3 million copies in the United States, and has been certified 3× platinum by the RIAA.[130][131]
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Born to Die was the fifth global best-selling album of 2012 with sales of 3.4 million copies.[132][133][134] By June 2014, the album had sold seven million copies worldwide.[135]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Born to Die.[156]