Laufey

Laufey’s Biography

Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir was born in Reykjavík to an Icelandic father and a Chinese mother. Her mother, Lin Wei, is a professional violinist whose career has spanned three countries: she has performed with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and taught at the Purcell School in London and the Yip Academy in Hong Kong. Her maternal grandfather, Lin Yaoji, was also a renowned violin teacher at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Classical music was an everyday part of family life. Although her father worked in finance, he collected vinyl records, and his collection introduced Laufey to jazz as a child, particularly the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She also has a twin sister, Júnía Jónsdóttir, who later became Laufey’s creative director, overseeing her visual identity and directing her music videos.

Laufey spent her childhood between Iceland and the United States. The family lived in Washington, D.C., for several years, while the sisters often spent their summers in China. In 2008, the family returned to Reykjavík, where Laufey began attending Álftamýrarskóli. In an interview with RÚV, she recalled feeling different from her peers after returning to Iceland:

“Mér fannst ég vera pínu skrítin og útlensk” — “I felt a little strange and foreign.”

These experiences and feelings later inspired “Letter to My 13 Year Old Self,” one of the most personal songs on Bewitched.

Laufey began learning piano through the Suzuki method at four and took up the cello at eight. Although her mother and grandfather were violinists, she did not want to play the violin herself. Her mother noticed that her daughter’s deeper voice was a more natural match for the cello, which became her second instrument. Laufey also took ballet and figure skating lessons as a child.

By 15, Laufey was already performing as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She performed a solo part at its Christmas concerts in 2014 and also played in the orchestra’s youth ensemble.

Laufey speaks Icelandic, English, and Mandarin Chinese, and can also read Danish. In 2018, she graduated from the Reykjavík College of Music, received a Presidential Scholarship, and enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She graduated from Berklee in 2021 with a Bachelor of Music degree. Studying in an environment where jazz, pop, and contemporary composition existed side by side helped her move beyond the strict conventions of classical training. According to Laufey, her own style began to take shape when she stopped being afraid to break musical rules.

Early Career

Before achieving international fame, Laufey was already familiar to Icelandic television audiences. In 2014, she reached the final of Ísland Got Talent, finishing second. The following year, she competed on The Voice Iceland, becoming the season’s youngest contestant and reaching the semifinals.

Her solo career began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spring of 2020, just before Berklee’s campus closed, Laufey recorded “Street by Street.” The song grew out of a relationship that had ended: as she explained, she wanted to symbolically reclaim Boston, one street at a time. Released in April, the single soon topped the Icelandic radio chart.

As concerts and classes moved online, Laufey began singing regularly for a small but rapidly growing online audience. She performed jazz standards and played her own songs on guitar, piano, and cello, building her following without a major traditional promotional campaign.

This was especially true on TikTok, where the algorithm helped potential listeners stumble upon her songs. Laufey’s lyrics, set to classic jazz harmonies, were not about an imagined 1950s past, but about ghosting, insecurity, unrequited love, failed dates, and the romantic fantasies of a twenty-something today. Laufey herself sees this as the main reason her music resonated with Gen Z:

“The lyrics are very modern; they're my personal experiences from this day and age.”

In 2021, she released her debut EP, Typical of Me, moving from a promising TikTok singer to an artist with an international release to her name.

Global Success and a Grammy Award

Laufey’s first studio album, Everything I Know About Love, was released in August 2022. It already contained all the elements that would define her style: jazz vocals, bossa nova, chamber strings, classical harmonies, and lyrics about timeless romantic experiences. The album reached No. 3 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums charts in the United States and later climbed to No. 5 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart.

Around the same time, Laufey returned to the orchestra, this time as a singer. Her concerts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at Harpa were recorded for A Night at the Symphony. The orchestra with which she had made her debut as a cellist at 15 was now accompanying her own songs.

Her second album, Bewitched, released on September 8, 2023, was another success. It accumulated approximately 5.7 million streams on its first day, setting Spotify’s record at the time for the biggest jazz album debut in the platform’s history. The previous record, held by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s Love for Sale, was approximately 1.1 million streams. Bewitched also ranked second on Spotify’s global chart of album debuts.

Laufey’s music seems to blur the boundaries between several classic genres. “From the Start” features bossa nova rhythms and the influence of Astrud Gilberto, while her vocal delivery recalls Chet Baker and her string arrangements reflect her classical training. Pop song structures sit alongside almost diary-like lyrics.

“My whole goal as a musician is to bring these older styles of music to a new audience,” Laufey says.

On February 4, 2024, Bewitched earned Laufey her first Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. At 24, she became the youngest winner in the category.

On August 22, 2025, Laufey released her third studio album, A Matter of Time, created with her longtime collaborator Spencer Stewart and acclaimed musician and producer Aaron Dessner, a member of The National. The record expanded her sound and moved beyond her familiar image as a singer of exclusively gentle jazz songs. It introduced unsettling cinematic orchestration, elements of indie pop, and chamber music, while her lyrics addressed growing up, self-esteem, and the fear of losing control with greater candor.

At the 68th Grammy Awards in 2026, Laufey won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album again, this time for A Matter of Time. As of 2026, she has received two Grammy nominations and won both.

On April 10, 2026, she released the expanded edition, A Matter of Time: The Final Hour, featuring four new tracks.

Laufey’s concerts have long since outgrown intimate jazz clubs. In recent years, she has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Madison Square Garden, and major venues across Europe and Asia. On September 12, 2026, she played the final concert of her A Matter of Time Tour, which spanned more than 70 shows across five continents. She performed in São Paulo, Brazil, on September 9, followed by Mexico City, Mexico, on September 12.

On October 13, Laufey appeared on the popular American radio program Here & Now. She launched a major campaign supporting public libraries, encouraging Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences to visit them more often, sign up for library cards, and find comfort and a sense of nostalgia in these spaces.

Laufey’s Personal Life and Family

Laufey’s most enduring creative partnership is with her twin sister, Júnía, who was born about ten minutes after her, plays the violin, and works as her creative director. Júnía helps shape the visual identity of her music videos, concerts, and photo shoots, as well as what fans call “Laufeycore”: bows, ballet flats, vintage silhouettes, romantic dresses, and visual references to the mid-20th century. Júnía also occasionally plays on her sister’s recordings; her violin can be heard on Bewitched, for example.

For a long time, Laufey’s love life was far less public than her songs. Although she built her career on highly specific stories about falling in love and breaking up, she rarely named the people who might have inspired them.

That changed in 2026. In an April interview with NME, Laufey openly said she had a British boyfriend and mentioned that they played FIFA together on PlayStation. Icelandic media identify him as Charlie Christie, a senior executive and vice president at Interscope Records. In June 2026, Vísir reported that Laufey had publicly wished him a happy birthday and that the couple had celebrated their second anniversary in January. They met through music industry circles in late 2023 and kept their relationship private for a long time, although observant fans spotted Charlie backstage at Laufey’s concerts.

In the fall of 2026, their relationship became the subject of renewed speculation. During her A Matter of Time world tour in late September and October, the singer hinted at a breakup from the stage on several occasions. Her emotional performances of new, unreleased songs about men’s irresponsibility and romantic disappointment, including the single “Tough Luck,” along with her decision to unfollow Christie on social media, convinced the fan community that their two-year relationship had ended.

Although the singer now lives in New York, Iceland remains her home. In a 2026 interview with Vogue, she shared that her parents still live in Reykjavík, leaving her with a persistent longing for her homeland and a desire to return whenever she can.

Interesting Facts About Laufey

1. Laufey has often described the cello as an extension of her body. She says the instrument is just as important to her creative expression as her own voice.
2. She loves literature and runs the popular online Laufey’s Book Club, where she shares her favorite classic and contemporary novels with millions of followers.
3. Throughout her extensive A Matter of Time Tour, the singer donated $1 from every ticket sold to charity. This raised more than $600,000 to support 14 nonprofit children’s and youth orchestras worldwide.
4. Mandarin was her first language, even though she grew up in Iceland and the United States. Laufey speaks Icelandic, English, and Mandarin fluently and can also read Danish.
5. She almost gave up music to attend a prestigious university. Before enrolling at Berklee College of Music in the United States, she received an offer to study at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where Prince William and Kate Middleton met.
6. She is an official “friend of the house” for French fashion brand Chanel, regularly sits in the front row at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, and promotes leading global audio equipment and jewelry brands.
7. In spring 2026, Laufey released her first children’s book, Mei Mei the Bunny. Its main character is an adorable plush bunny named Mei Mei, her brand’s official mascot, which regularly appears at fan meetups and concerts.
8. The singer has perfect pitch and can accurately identify and reproduce any note without a tuning fork.
9. Laufey’s visual style has become a global social media trend known as “Laufeycore”. Thousands of fans worldwide recreate her stage look, inspired by the romantic aesthetic of old Hollywood, silk bows, ballet flats, delicate dresses, and mid-20th-century vintage silhouettes.
10. Laufey is an excellent cook and has shared on food blogs that making traditional Chinese dumplings (jiaozi) at home with her sister is her favorite way to unwind after exhausting concert tours.

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