Laufey

Overview

Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay; full name Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir) is an Icelandic singer-songwriter born on 23 April 1999 in Reykjavík. Her music blends jazz pop with classical influences, and she rose to prominence in the early 2020s. Her second album, Bewitched, won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, and her third album, A Matter of Time, won the same category at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.

Early life and education

Laufey's father is Icelandic and her mother is a classical violinist from Guangzhou, China. Her maternal grandfather, Lin Yaoji, was a violin educator at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, and she credits her family with inspiring her love of music. Her identical twin sister, Júnía, is a violinist and serves as her creative director.

She began piano at four and cello at eight, and graduated from the Reykjavík College of Music in 2018, where she also studied singing. At 15 she performed as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She was a finalist in the 2014 edition of Ísland Got Talent and a semifinalist on The Voice Iceland in 2015, when she was the youngest competitor in the show's history. She then attended Berklee College of Music on a presidential scholarship, studying cello with Mike Block and graduating in 2021. As of October 2023 she lived in Los Angeles.

Career

2020–2022: Early career

Laufey released her debut single, "Street by Street", on 6 April 2020; it reached number one on Icelandic radio. Her first EP, Typical of Me, followed on 30 April 2021. Rolling Stone praised her rendition of "I Wish You Love", and American Songwriter named the EP among the best albums of 2021. She signed with AWAL, hosted the BBC Radio 3 show Happy Harmonies, performed at the London Jazz Festival in November, released "Let You Break My Heart Again" with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and teamed up with Dodie for "Love To Keep Me Warm" in December.

She made her US network television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 21 January 2022. Her debut album, Everything I Know About Love, arrived on 26 August 2022 to critical acclaim and debuted at number one on Billboard's Alternative New Artist Album chart.

2023–present: Bewitched and A Matter of Time

On 22 June 2023 Laufey played her first concert in Japan at Blue Note Tokyo. In August 2023 she signed a global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music, and on 8 September 2023 she released Bewitched. It earned her first Grammy Award, and at the ceremony she performed with Billy Joel on "Turn the Lights Back On". She went on a year-long world tour and, on 6 March 2024, reissued the album as Bewitched: The Goddess Edition, preceded by the single "Goddess". The live album A Night At The Symphony: Hollywood Bowl followed in December 2024.

In 2025 she announced her third album with the single "Silver Lining" on 3 April, followed by "Tough Luck", "Lover Girl" and "Snow White". A Matter of Time was released on 22 August 2025. In February 2026 she released the single "How I Get".

Musical style

Laufey was influenced by classical music, including Chopin, from childhood, and developed her style listening to her father's records by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Fitzgerald and Chet Baker are her biggest artistic influences, and Taylor Swift, Norah Jones and Adele inspire her as a musician. She describes her music as jazz or jazz pop, while outlets have called it traditional pop with elements of jazz, pop, bossa nova and classical. Billboard credited her with creating a blueprint for bringing jazz back to the mainstream.