Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), known as Lykke Li (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈlʏ̂kːɛˈliː]), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, model and actress. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and electronic. Her debut studio album, Youth Novels, was released in 2008, and has been followed by Wounded Rhymes (2011), I Never Learn (2014), So Sad So Sexy (2018), and Eyeye (2022). She is best known for her biggest hit single to date, "I Follow Rivers".
Early life
Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson was born in Ystad, Skåne; her mother, Kärsti Stiege [sv], was a photographer, and her father, Johan Zachrisson [sv] (stage name Zilverzurfarn), is a member of the Swedish punk-reggae band Dag Vag. Her younger brother, Zacharias Zachrisson (a.k.a. Vacation Forever), is also a musician.[7] The family moved to Stockholm when Zachrisson was a toddler and when she was six moved to a mountaintop in Portugal where they lived for five years. The family also spent time in Lisbon and Morocco, and winters in Nepal and India.[7][8] She moved to Brooklyn, New York City, for three months when she was 19.[9][10][11] She returned when she was 21 to record her album.[12]
Lykke Li released her first EP, Little Bit, in 2007. Stereogum named her an artist to watch in October 2007 and described her music as a mix of soul, electro and "powdered-sugar pop".[13]
Lykke Li's debut album, Youth Novels, was released on LL Recordings in the Nordic region on 30January 2008 and received a wider European release in June 2008. The album was produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John and Lasse Mårtén and was reportedly inspired by a previous relationship of three years.[7] It was released in the United States on 19August 2008. The album was released in the United Kingdom in June 2008, promoted by a performance of "Little Bit" on Later... with Jools Holland on 25May 2008.
She appeared on Swedish musician Kleerup's self-titled album, contributing vocals to the track "Until We Bleed". She also worked with Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp on their 2009 album Junior, contributing vocals to "Miss It So Much" and "Were You Ever Wanted". Lykke Li appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly on 18February 2009. She covered "Knocked Up", originally recorded by Kings of Leon who had approached Lykke to cover a song of her choice, and "Gifted" in which she performs with Kanye West. Lykke Li performed at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 19April and the 2009 Lollapalooza festival on 8August as part of the promotional tour for Youth Novels.
Her song "I'm Good, I'm Gone" featured in the game FIFA 09, whilst a remixed version was featured in the 2009 horror film Sorority Row. The song "Possibility" was written for the 2009 film The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Lykke Li had been asked to write a song to the film soundtrack but was reluctant to commit to the project. It was after she had seen an early screening of the film that she decided she wanted to contribute to the soundtrack. The soundtrack was released on 16October 2009.
The song "Get Some" was featured in the 15th episode of the first season of Hawaii Five-0 titled "Kai e'e" which aired 23January 2011. The song was also used in ABC Family's drama Pretty Little Liars in the 18th episode of the second season which was titled "A Kiss Before Lying" which aired 30January 2012. The song was also used in the 19th episode of the second season of The CW's The Vampire Diaries, titled "Klaus" and originally aired 21April 2011,[18] and in the show Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 as well as the sixth episode of the first season of Teen Wolf, titled "Heart Monitor" and originally aired 4July 2011.[19] The song was also used in the film Premium Rush as one of its soundtracks. The song "Unrequited Love" was used in episode 19 ("The Wheels of Justice"), season four of The Good Wife.
Lykke Li performing at Paradiso in Amsterdam, December 2008
Lykke Li's song "Melodies and Desires" was featured in the 2010 Australian film Griff the Invisible and an edited version of "Get Some" was featured in the Catwoman trailer for the video game, Batman: Arkham City. She collaborated with singer Kleerup on the song "Until We Bleed", which was featured on an episode of UK TV series Misfits and an episode of the television series Ringer.
Her second album Wounded Rhymes was released in 2011. The album was featured on several lists of 2011's best albums, including Q, Mojo, The Observer, The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Rolling Stone.[20] The 19April 2011 episode of Glee (titled "A Night of Neglect") featured student Tina singing a version of Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers". On 30April 2011, she performed on Later... with Jools Holland in the UK, playing "Get Some", "Sadness Is a Blessing" and "I Follow Rivers". Lykke Li played at the 2011 Latitude Festival, held between 14 and 18July 2011 at Henham Park in Suffolk, England. She appeared with her band on US late night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in August 2011 and on the Late Show with David Letterman in November 2011.
On 27February 2014, Lykke Li released the video for the title track of her third studio album, I Never Learn.[25] Following the release, Lykke Li released the video for the single "Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone" on 4March 2014.[26] On 10April 2014, she released a video for the lead single, "No Rest for the Wicked".[27] On 15 July 2014, she also released a video for the single "Gunshot".
Lykke Li officially released I Never Learn on 2May 2014. Once again her album was featured on several lists of 2014's best albums, including Billboard, Complex, and Pitchfork, among others. In United States, I Never Learn debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200, making it Lykke Li's highest-peaking album on the chart. Prior to the release, Lykke Li released a remix of "No Rest for the Wicked", featuring ASAP Rocky, on 21 April 2014. On 30 May 2014, Lykke Li released a remix EP of "No Rest for the Wicked".[28] German electronic DJ Robin Schulz remixed "No Rest for the Wicked" and the edit was featured in Schulz's debut album Prayer.[citation needed]
Lykke Li made her acting debut in the 2014 Swedish crime film Tommy, directed by Tarik Saleh, and recorded a song for the film, "Du är den ende". She wrote "No One Ever Loved" for the soundtrack to The Fault in Our Stars, which was released on 19May 2014. Lykke Li was also featured as a guest musician on U2's album Songs of Innocence, performing vocals on the last track "The Troubles".[29]
On 14November 2014, Lykke Li gained considerable attention from Internet music publications regarding her cover of Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home", performed the night prior at London's Eventim Apollo. On 5January 2015, Lykke Li posted a picture on her Instagram account, in which she announced her temporary retirement.
On 6April 2015, she released a video for "Never Gonna Love Again",[31] directed by Philippe Tempelman.[32] In September 2016, supergroup Liv, featuring Lykke Li, released their first single "Wings of Love".[33] The music video was directed by Lykke Li.[34]
Lykke Li released her fourth studio album, So Sad So Sexy, on 8 June 2018 through RCA.[35] Along with the announcement, Lykke Li released the first two singles, "Deep End" and "Hard Rain".[35]
In a 2019 interview speaking about her fifth studio album, Lykke Li told NME: "I think, maybe to everyone's disappointment, I'm going to really scale it down and back and slow it down. [...] It'll be more like soul music. It'll still be sad, and still be sexy."[37]
Lykke Li made her return to music releasing "BRON", a song sung entirely in Swedish, in October 2020.[38]
Lykke Li released "No Hotel", the lead single from her fifth studio album, Eyeye, on 23 March 2022.[39] The album was released on 20 May 2022.[40]
In July 2022, it was announced that Lykke Li would partner with creative director Theo Lindquist and artist Nick Verstandpresent to present an immersive installation, entitled Ü & EYEYE,[41] at Los Angeles' The Broad Museum. The project intends "to transform the Broad’s Oculus Hall into a hyper-sensory cathedral of female romantic fantasy", says a statement released about the installation. The opening night will feature a special performance by Lykke Li and her band in the Broad's lobby and third floor galleries.[42]
In March 2024, Lykke Li performed June Carter Cash song "Ring of Fire" during final credits of Netflix movie "Damsel".
Lykke Li made her acting debut in the 2014 Swedish crime film Tommy directed by Tarik Saleh. The film was released in cinemas in Scandinavia in March 2014.[45] Lykke Li also appeared in Terrence Malick's 2017 film Song to Song, playing BV's (Ryan Gosling) girlfriend. She is a member of SAG/AFTRA.
The song "Gunshot" was used in the television commercial for the Peugeot 108, which stars Li. She also stars in a short film for Gucci's Spring/Summer 2015 collection, which features the song "Just Like a Dream" and debuted on 2March 2015.[46]
Lykke Li is a founding partner in Yola Mezcal, which hosted a festival in Los Angeles in 2019 featuring a lineup of all-female performances by Megan Thee Stallion, Courtney Love, and others.
Lykke Li possesses the vocal range of a soprano.[50]
Personal life
Of her practice of transcendental meditation, Lykke Li said in 2014: "It's really interesting from a creative point of view. Before, I could only write a few sentences and I'd have to take a break for a few days before I could go back to it. All of a sudden, I could write and finish a song in one go – verse, verse, verse, chorus, the lot. And that would happen with song after song. Finally, I unlocked the gate."[51]
On 30October 2015, Lykke Li posted a photo on Instagram announcing her pregnancy.[52] On 12 February 2016, she announced the birth of her son Dion, whose father is musician Jeff Bhasker, on Facebook.[53][54] Lykke Li's mother died three weeks after Dion was born; she says that her album So Sad So Sexy was born out of this difficult time in her life.[55]
Lykke Li revealed she was pregnant with her second child on 12 April 2023, via Instagram.[56]
^Empire, Kitty (17 April 2011). "Lykke Li – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
^Carroll, Jim. "Lykke Li: 'I had the blues and that was a good thing'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 June 2014. One of the reasons Lykke Li cites for her heightened state of creativity of late is a growing interest in mindfulness and transcendental meditation
