ÍøÆغÚÁÏ

Rob Grant specializes in gentle, flowing piano instrumentals, often with a longing tone, whether hopeful or wistful. Mostly consisting of arrangements of piano and atmospheric synths and strings, his debut album, 2023's Lost at Sea, featured 12 instrumentals and two duets with his daughter, Lana Del Rey, including the title track.

Robert England Grant, Jr. was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1954. He was working as a copywriter in Manhattan when he married Patricia Ann Hill, an account executive at the same firm. They had three children together: Charlie Grant, Caroline "Chuck" Grant, and Elizabeth Woolridge Grant. The oldest, Elizabeth, went on to become better known as pop superstar Lana Del Rey.

Rob Grant never studied music, either to read it or to play it, but discovered he had the ability to improvise and compose on the piano, something he's known to do for hours at a time. With a piano ballad in hand that he had written with his daughter, he finally booked some studio time at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles with a Steinway concert grand. That song, "Sweet Carolina," evolved into the final track of Del Rey's Blue Banisters (2021) album.

Duly encouraged by the experience, Grant stayed with Del Rey in L.A. in early 2022 when she was recording her ninth album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, at Henson Studios. The song "Lost at Sea" emerged from Grant's own sessions at Henson and laid the foundation for a possible album. Eventually, the Decca label got involved and brought in ambient producer Luke Howard to work with Grant. Comprising mostly yearning instrumental arrangements of piano, strings, and atmospheric synths, the resulting Lost at Sea album also included two duets with Del Rey, including "Hollywood Bowl" and the wistful title track, which was released as a single in early June of 2023. The full album followed on Decca before the end of the month. ~ Marcy Donelson