Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir (; born April 23, 1999), known by the mononym Laufey , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who became popular in the early 2020s. She describes her musical style, a mixture of jazz pop and bedroom pop, as ''modern jazz.'' Laufey participated in ''

The Voice Iceland ''The Voice'' is an international reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition ''The Voice of Holland'', which was originally created by Dutch producer John de Mol Jr., John de Mol and Dutch si ...

'' in 2015. She released her debut EP ''Typical of Me'' in 2021, before releasing her debut album ''Everything I Know About Love'' in 2022.

Early life and education

Laufey Lín Jónsdottír was born on April 23, 1999. Her father is Icelandic and her mother is Chinese. Her Chinese family is from Guangzhou. Her mother is a classical violinist and her grandfather, Lin Yaoji, was a violin educator at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, which Laufey credits as partly inspiring her love of music. She has an identical twin sister named Junia Lín Jónsdottír. She spent her childhood moving between Reykjavík and Washington, D.C. At age 15, she performed as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Although she was influenced by and played classical music from an early age, she turned to her father's records of female jazz musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to develop her musical style. While in Iceland, Laufey participated in the 2014 season of ''Ísland Got Talent''—the Icelandic version of '' Britain's Got Talent''—and ended as a finalist. The following year, she also appeared as a contestant on ''The Voice Iceland'' and reached the semi-finals. At the time, she was the youngest competitor in the series' history. Laufey graduated from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in 2021. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Career

Laufey released her debut single, "Street by Street", in 2020 and it charted at #1 on Icelandic Radio. She launched her first EP, ''Typical of Me'', on April 30, 2021. It includes "Street by Street" and six new songs. Many of these tracks were written in her college dorm room. '' Rolling Stone'' particularly praised her rendition of " I Wish You Love". '' American Songwriter'' included the EP in their list of best albums of 2021. Additionally, ''Typical of Me'' received attention from musicians such as Willow Smith and Billie Eilish. Laufey performed in the London Jazz Festival in November 2021. Around the same time, she collaborated with London's

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

to release "Let You Break My Heart Again". In December 2021, she collaborated with Dodie to release another single, "Love To Keep Me Warm", a cover of the original by Irving Berlin. On the spring through summer of 2021 (and later again on December for a Christmas special), Laufey hosted a weekly music show on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

called ''Happy Harmonies'', where she highlighted uplifting music in a wide variety of genres. She also has a significant following on TikTok and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, where she frequently hosts live sessions. She made her United States network television debut when she appeared as the musical guest on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' on January 21, 2022. She played her song "Like The Movies" from her debut EP, ''Typical of Me''. Her debut album, ''Everything I Know About Love,'' was released on August 26, 2022 via AWAL to critical acclaim.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laufey 1999 births Living people 21st-century cellists 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century Icelandic women singers 21st-century women pianists Bedroom pop musicians Jazz-pop singers Icelandic cellists Icelandic expatriates in the United States Icelandic people of Asian descent Icelandic TikTokers Icelandic women singer-songwriters Icelandic singer-songwriters Women jazz guitarists Women jazz pianists Women jazz singers Berklee College of Music alumni