Ivy Rose Levan is an American singer, songwriter, model and actress from Bentonville, Arkansas. At 16, Levan moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career, eventually signing to Cherrytree Records and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. Levan made her acting debut starring as "Cynthia" in the 2010 film ''Drop Dead Gorgeous'' which followed by other television appearances, including her most recent in Fox's ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...

'' film. In 2013, Levan released her debut EP on Interscope Records titled '' Introducing the Dame'' which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Next Big Sound charts. The most popular single from the EP was "Hot Damn". Following a three-track single, ''Frostbitten'', released by Cherrytree Records on December 15, 2014, she released the single, "

Biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. ...

", on January 13, 2015. "Biscuit" also appeared on her first Cherrytree EP, '' No Good'', released on August 7, 2015.

Early life

Ivy Rose Levan was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and raised in Bentonville, Arkansas. The singer moved to Los Angeles with her mother when she was 16 years old to pursue a music career. Of the experience, Levan says "I just knew I needed to get out of there as fast as I could, so two weeks before I was supposed to graduate high school, I took off for L.A. with my mama." After experimenting with various musical styles, Levan began to use her Southern upbringing as a frame of reference, and as an influence which can be found in her music. During her career, Levan has worked with many artists of note, across genres. Among others, the singer has collaborated with

Ben Weinman Benjamin A. Weinman (born August 8, 1975) is an American musician, most notable for being the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the mathcore band the Dillinger Escape Plan (DEP). He is the founder and sole constant member of the DEP, he i ...

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Tomo Miličević Tomislav "Tomo" Miličević (; born September 3, 1979) is a Bosnian Croats, Bosnian Croat-American musician and record producer. He was the lead guitarist of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars from 2003 to 2018. Born in Sarajevo but raised in ...

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, Sting, and

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

Musical career

2013–14: Career beginnings

In 2013, Levan released '' Introducing the Dame'' where it peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Next Big Sound charts. The EP features her most popular single from the album "Hot Damn", which has racked up over 6 million views on YouTube. During the album's release, Levan was interviewed on Glamour Magazine and featured on CBS News' "The Feed." Levan was also featured on MTVu's Freshman segment, securing the winning spot twice and was dubbed as the "New It-Girl". In December 2013, Levan was featured in a television commercial for the Beats By Dre Color Solo Headphones alongside Chris Cole, Jasmine Villegas,

August Alsina August Anthony Alsina Jr.(April 8, 2013)R&B Singer August Alsina Talks Working With The Dream, Preps Def Jam Debut, ''Life + Times'' (confirms middle name; other sources confirm he is a "junior") (born September 3, 1992) is an American hip hop ...

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Nyjah Huston Nyjah Imani Huston ( ; born November 30, 1994) is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world. Huston won gold medals at the SLS ...

Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WT ...

and Alex Midler. Levan made her television performance debut February 2, 2014 on the

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

in which she performed Drive My Car with Sting and Mike Einziger on day two of the Late Show's Beatles Tribute Week. Additionally, in June 2013, Levan supported Fitz & The Tantrums touring mostly the Mid-West and North-Eastern United States as well as Texas. During this tour, she also performed at clubs in support of the LGBT community. In October 2013, she supported Emeli Sandé. On April 17, 2014, Levan performed with Lisa Fischer for the 25th Anniversary of the Rainforest Fund Benefit Concert.

2015–present: ''No Good'' and ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show''

In 2015, Levan released the first single "

" to her debut studio album titled '' No Good'', which was released on August 7, 2015. She also sang the theme song "Who Can You Trust?", for the comedy film Spy. In 2016, it was announced that she would be singing the opening credits and starring as Usherette in Fox TV's production of ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

'', which premiered in October 2016. In August 2017, she announced that she was in a new record deal with BMG. Along with this, she announced a new EP but didn't announce a release date. In November 2018, Levan announced the release date of her upcoming single "

Her Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music Performers * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer * HIM (Finnish band), once kn ...

" which was released on November 8, 2018.

Artistry

Levan's influences include

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Ol' Dirty Bastard Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), known professionally as Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan, which forme ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

. Her musical style is sometimes dubbed as "Swamp-hop", a mixture of raw sounding soul music & synths.

Personal life

Levan is openly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and is also a model. She is signed to

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. History 20th century Eileen and Jerry began the bu ...

, and has done ads for

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

, Payless ShoeSource and runway for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

Discography

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levan, Ivy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women singers American women pop singers American bisexual actresses American female models Bisexual singers Bisexual songwriters Bisexual women models LGBTQ people from Arkansas LGBTQ people from Oklahoma American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Singers from Oklahoma Interscope Records artists 21st-century American singers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people LGBTQ women singers