Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of 10. After college, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she began her recording career in hip-hop. Lizzo released two studio albums, Lizzobangers (2013) and Big Grrrl Small World (2015).
In 2016, Lizzo signed to Atlantic Records and released her first major-label extended play (EP), Coconut Oil. Her third studio album, Cuz I Love You (2019), peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200 and won three Grammy Awards. It spawned the multi-platinum single "Juice", while its deluxe version included the 2016 single "Good as Hell" and the 2017 single "Truth Hurts"; the latter became a viral sleeper hit two years after its initial release and topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Her fourth studio album, Special (2022), was led by her second US number-one single, "About Damn Time", which also won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. After a hiatus, she released her third mixtape, My Face Hurts from Smiling (2025), followed by her fifth studio album Bitch (2026).
Along with her recording career, Lizzo has also worked as an actress; she performed a voice role in the animated film UglyDolls (2019), and appeared in the crime comedy-drama film Hustlers (2019). She is also the host of the Amazon Prime Video reality television series Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Competition Program. In 2019, Time named Lizzo "Entertainer of the Year" for her meteoric rise and contributions to music. In addition to four Grammy Awards, she has also won a Billboard Music Award, a BET Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards.
