Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she later moved to Houston, Texas, where she began performing, before moving to Minneapolis, where she began her recording career. Prior to signing with Nice Life and Atlantic Records, Lizzo released two studio albums—Lizzobangers (2013) and Big Grrrl Small World (2015). Lizzo's first major-label EP, Coconut Oil, was released in 2016.
Lizzo attained mainstream success with the release of her third studio album, Cuz I Love You (2019), which peaked inside the top five of the US Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles "Juice" and "Tempo". The deluxe version of the album included Lizzo's 2017 single "Truth Hurts", which became a viral sleeper hit, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 two years after its initial release. Around this time, her 2016 single "Good as Hell" also climbed the charts, reaching the top three on the Hot 100 and top ten of the UK Singles Chart. Lizzo received eight nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, the most for any artist that year, including Album of the Year for the deluxe version of Cuz I Love You, Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Truth Hurts", as well as Best New Artist. She eventually won the awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for "Truth Hurts", and Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song "Jerome".
Aside from singing and rapping, Lizzo has also worked as an actor: she served as a voice performer in the animated film UglyDolls (2019) and appeared in the crime comedy-drama film Hustlers (2019). In 2019, Time named Lizzo as "Entertainer of the Year" for her meteoric rise and contribution to music. In addition to her three Grammy Awards, she has also won a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards.