Lykke Li Artistfacts

March 18, 1986
Singer-songwriter Lykke Li (Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson) was born in Sweden. Her parents' artistic careers – her mother is a photographer, her father is a musician – allowed the family to move often. Growing up, she spent time in Sweden, Portugal, Morocco, Nepal, and India. At the age of 19 she went to New York for three months where she sang at open mic nights.
She is known for experimenting with her indie-pop sound and for using a variety of instruments. Her use of synthesizers gives her music an electronic element.
In 2007, Li released an EP titled "Little Bit." The video for the single was nominated for a Swedish Grammy Award, and soon after she signed with Atlantic Records. She returned to New York to record her first full-length album. The result was Youth Novels, produced by Björn Yttling from the Swedish indie band Peter Bjorn and John. In promoting the album, Li performed at both Coachella and Lollapalooza in 2009. She released her follow-up album titled Wounded Rhymes, again produced by Björn Yttling, in 2011. It reached #7 on the US Alternative Albums Chart and #36 on the US Billboard 200.
Lykke told The Daily Telegraph her name is pronounced 'Leeck-ee' but in the US, "they say 'Likey' or 'Leaky.'"
Lykke Li's earliest dream was to become a marine biologist. "I felt such a deep connection with dolphins," she told The Daily Telegraph. "I felt like they were the only ones who understood me. But then I saw the Michael Jackson Black Or White video and thought, 'I want to be dancing in the desert and singing.' I didn't know if he was a man or a woman, he just seemed so free, so non-judgmental, so happy. I dreamt about him so much."
Lykke Li spent her early teenage years as a backing dancer on Swedish TV. At 15, she decided she didn't really want to be a dancer, so she applied to music school in Stockholm but didn't get in. "That was devastating but it somehow awoke the underdog in me and made me certain that I wanted to do music," she told The Independent.

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