Lizzo Artistfacts

April 27, 1988
She was born Melissa Jefferson in Detroit, Michigan. When she was 9, her family relocated to Houston, Texas, and in middle school she picked up the nickname Lizzo, which became her stage name.
Lizzo's music career started at the age of 14 when she formed a group called Cornrow Clique with her best friends.
She graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in classical studies, concentrating in flute studies. Lizzo has since featured the flute on all her releases, and frequently performs with the instrument live.
Lizzo moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2011 after her father passed away. There, she founded several hip-hop groups, including the electro soul-pop duo Lizzo & the Larva Ink, and the three-piece all-female rap/R&B group The Chalice.
In September 2014, Lizzo and her Chalice bandmate Sophia Eris were featured on the Prince song "BoyTrouble" from his album Plectrumelectrum. Lizzo told Rolling Stone that working with Prince inspired her to fuse her love of pop, rap, rock and funk into a sound of her own. "It gave me confidence to be an artist, not just a rapper or a singer or a girl in a band," she said. "When you're an artist, you become eternal."
Lizzo's big breakthrough came when her 2017 song "Truth Hurts" was featured during a prominent scene in the 2019 Netflix rom-com film Someone Great. The track became a sleeper hit, reaching the Top 10 of the Hot 100 two years after its initial release. The accompanying album Cuz I Love You debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart.
As a plus-sized Black woman, Lizzo struggled with body issues as a teenager. She now wants to encourage other girls with similar issues by making body image and self-love a major theme in her music. Many of Lizzo's songs reflect her message of body-positivity, including "Tempo" and "My Skin."
Her group of back-up dancers, the Big Grrrls, consists entirely of plus-size dancers.
Lizzo has ventured into the movie world, with a voice performance in the 2019 animated film UglyDolls, where she voiced the character Lydia. She also made her acting big screen debut the same year, co-starring in the crime comedy-drama film Hustlers.
During Lizzo's September 27, 2022 Capitol One Arena, Washington, DC show, she played the crystal flute, which was originally owned by the fourth president of the United States, James Madison. The French flute was a gift to celebrate Madison's second term and Lizzo was the first person in two centuries to play the instrument, which is now housed in the Library of Congress.
Lizzo became a vegan in 2020 but gave it up in 2024 because she felt she needed animal proteins in her diet. In 2026 she sang the "baby back ribs" jingle in a commercial for Chili's (with a rib flute), so it seems she won't be returning to veganism.

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