Who is Laufey?
A deep dive into the musical journey of the jazzy “goddess”.
Laufey has greatly impacted the music industry by reintroducing jazz into mainstream pop.
Who is Laufey? How is she changing the music industry? How do I pronounce her name? Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir (pronounced LAY-vay) has recently impacted the music industry with her unique genre and style. An Icelandic artist who creates music in a blend of many genres, Laufey was born in 1999 in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, into a musical family. Her Chinese mother was a classical violinist and her father loved jazz. Laufey and her twin sister, Junia, started learning musical instruments at a young age, both learning the piano at age 4. Later on, Laufey picked up the cello and Junia learned the violin and together pursued music as their career. In 2018, Laufey graduated from the Reykjavik College of Music and got her presidential scholarship in 2021 at the Boston Berklee College of Music.
While everyone was bored, doing nothing during the Covid lockdown, Laufey started uploading jazz covers and songs on social media. Many people started following her as these videos highlighted her musical talent and unique voice. As she slowly grew her following, she recorded her first original song: Street by Street. This catchy song exhibited heavy jazz influence, which defined Laufey’s own genre of pop with jazz and classical elements. Soon after, she released her debut EP, Typical of Me. This mini-album was a hit to Laufey’s early fans as her listeners grew. In 2022, she released a full, 13 song album: Everything I Know About Love. A couple of the songs such as Valentine and Falling Behind were quite a hit, growing her fan base even more.
Laufey’s 2023 album, Bewitched, was the spark of her great musical success and fame. This diverse, yet beautifully put together album, brought the worlds of pop and jazz into perfect harmony. It won the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Album and her hit song, From the Start, has reached 719 million plays on Spotify as of June 19, 2025.
Laufey also put out the live album A Night at the Symphony with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in 2023. It includes her songs with orchestral accompaniments, a couple of jazz standards, and even a traditional Icelandic piece. In 2024, Laufey released her single Goddess and created a deluxe version of her Bewitched album with four bonus songs. Her upcoming album, A Matter of Time, releases on August 22, 2025 and has fans eagerly waiting.
Instead of using basic pop chord progressions, Laufey’s unique style of pop with jazz and classical influences makes her songs special. Her beautiful songwriting with deep lyrics about love and heartbreak is extraordinary. In one of Laufey’s most tightly written songs, Promise, she sings about a promise she made and breaking it for her lover. A part of the song goes, “It hurts to be something, (but) it’s worse to be nothing with you. I’ve done the math, (and) there’s no solution. We’ll never last, (but) why can’t I let go of this?” Laufey’s great talent and skill has produced some lovely songs. She has greatly impacted the music industry by reintroducing jazz into mainstream pop. Laufey’s musical success has only started, which means more is coming soon.
Links
Dunavant, Ally. “Who is Laufey? The genre-defying singer-songwriter bringing classical and jazz to Gen Z.” Classical FM, https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/laufey-singer-instruments-family-concerts/
Knapp, Cheston. “Who’s Laufey Now.” Berklee, https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/whos-laufey-now
