Elizabeth Woolridge Grant was born on June 21, 1985, in Manhattan, New York City. She was raised Roman Catholic and is of Scottish descent.
When she was one year old, her family moved to Lake Placid. She attended St. Agnes Elementary School and began singing in her church choir, where she was the cantor.
After graduating high school, she spent a year living on Long Island with her aunt and uncle and learned to play guitar and "realized she could probably write a million songs with those six chords”.
Shortly after, she began writing songs and performing in nightclubs around the city under various names such as "Sparkle Jump Rope Queen" and "Lizzy Grant and the Phenomena".