US singer, rapper, classical flutist and all-around incredible human, Lizzo has just been nominated in eight categories for the 2020 Grammy Awards.

The awards, to be held on January 26 (local time), will recognise the most notable contributions to the music world over the past year, which is why we’re completely unsurprised that Lizzo has received so many nods for her work.

It’sLizzo, after all.

These are just some of her nominations: Her song ‘Exactly how I feel’ was nominated for Best R&B Performance. ‘Truth Hurts’ was nominated for Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of The Year (so. well. deserved.) And ‘Jerome’ was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance.

Well.

And all we’ve achieved musically in the last year is breaking the record for how many times one person can listen to ‘Sucker’ by the Jonas Brothers…erm, we mean, listening to sophisticated and cultured, adult music.

For those scratching their heads thinking, “Lizzo… who?” You’re not alone. As far as pop singers go, she hasn’t been around as long as say, Katy Perry or Britney Spears.

Here’s what you need to know about Lizzo so you can nail your next pub music trivia night.

When Lizzo became a household name.

Sitting naked in front of a dark background, covered only by a curtain of long jet black hair, this image of Lizzo is hard to forget.

It’s not an album cover we’re used to seeing from a breakout artist, let alone one Rolling Stonedescribes as “an artist you need to know”.

There’s a good chance you saw this image all over your Instagram feed earlier in the year. Since releasing her third studio albumCuz I Love Youin April and playing at Coachella 2019, we haven’t been able to stop thinking about this woman known only by one name. Madonna. Rihanna. And now,Lizzo.

When she ticked over to one million Instagram followers, she celebrated by sharing an aptly-timed cover and feature inV Magazine’sannual music issue.

Her message? “Dear big girls, your body is high fashion. You are beautiful. You are worthy. And I am on the COVER OF V MAGAZINE!”

Despite now being labelled one of 2019’s biggest stars, Lizzo has been working on her craft since forever.Cuz I Love Youand its iconic cover art aren’t the first we’ve heard or seen of the 31-year-old, but some of us are only just catching up.

After years of “fighting” to be heard, Lizzo released her first EPLizzobangersin 2013. She says of her sudden and steep rise to stardom, “I feel like I’ve just been marathon training for this my whole life.” But she’s also not mad it’s taken her this long for her album to beat Beyonce’s in the charts because, in her own words, she was “such a sh*thead” when she was younger.

No doubt you’ve heard Lizzo’s recent hits, but you might’ve already heard Lizzo’s older music without knowing it. Sung along to it, even. Her hit ‘Truth Hurts’ is featured in the new Netflix movieSomeone Great. It’s the tune Gina Rodriguez’s character Jenny dances to while sipping whiskey at 10 in the morning after being dumped by her boyfriend of nine years(you can watch the clip below, post continues after video).

These women getting down in the kitchen, one dancing in her undies, encapsulates what Lizzo’s music is about. Being a bad b*tch, but more importantly, being yourself.

Lizzo, the public figure, is more than her music, though. And by simply being herself – a black woman who identifies as plus-size – she’s automatically representative of millions of people, whether she volunteered to be or not.

It’s something she’s grappling with in real time, juggling the responsibilities handed to her by people who finally feel represented in the mainstream music industry, but also just doing her own thing and making music.

From her upbringing and unique sound to her outspokenness on issues like diversity and body positivity, we dove deep on Lizzo to find the story behind the woman inthat image.

Who is Lizzo?

Lizzo (real name Melissa Viviane Jefferson) was born in born in Detroit, Michigan.

A self-described over-achiever in school, she told V Magazine:“When I was little, my mum would always say I was ‘doing the most.’ I would do every class, every elective, every after-school activity. And I would just go until I passed out. I was really ambitious, really smart. Teachers would call my mum and be like, ‘Melissa is trying to teach my class.'”

She was identified as being different from her peers. At 12, Lizzo began taking flute lessons. She liked anime and comics, played in her junior high marching band, and listened to Radiohead and classical music while everyone favoured rap. It’s a good thing she did – her flute, Sasha Flute, has over 65,000 Instagram followers thanks to its party trick, the flute and twerk.

As a teenager, she moved to Houston with her family. Later, they relocated to Denver but she stayed on in Houston, studying music performance on a scholarship at the University of Houston.

But in her second year, tragedy struck – her father died.

He had been one of her fiercest supporters and his passing sent the then 21-year-old spiralling into depression.

In an interview with Trevor Noah, she said: “I was like ‘I have no reason to do this anymore because I was doing it for him’.

“But then I realised I have to do this for myself because he was doing it for me.”

She told Greenroom Magazine in 2015: “I dropped out, flew to Denver for summer vacation, went crazy and decided to become a singer.”

During that summer in Denver, Lizzo completely withdrew. She didn’t speak for three months, only communicating in shrugs.

“[I went] crazy… in a good way though, because I got inspired,” she told E Online . “That was a summer of metamorphosis.”

“I didn’t love myself until I was 21,” she toldTeen Vogue. “Twenty-one was the worst year of my life.”

Not only had her father passed, but Lizzo was also now homeless, having dropped out of university and losing her dorm room. She spent time sleeping in her car and snuck into a 24 hour gym to use the showers.

But it was this time in her life that inspired the Lizzo we see today.

Lizzo’s music.

Cuz I Love Youis Lizzo’s third album, but her first since signing to major record company Atlantic Records. In 2013, she releasedLizzobangers,which was followed by a second albumBig Grrrl Small Worldin 2015.

The influences behind unapologetically honest tracks l