What we know about Clayton Johnson, Lana Del Rey's fiancé - Los Angeles Times
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Lana Del Rey is engaged, and here’s what we know about her under-the-radar fiancé

Singer Lana Del Rey in a library of vinyl albums
Lana Del Rey, photographed in September 2019, is engaged to Clayton Johnson.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
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Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey is engaged, but who the heck is Clayton Johnson?

Coming off People magazine’s Tuesday confirmation of the 35-year-old pop star’s engagement, questions are swirling about her not-so-mysterious mystery man, whose ring she’s been flashing for a while now.

Here’s what we know about the situation so far:

They met on a dating app

Yep, Del Rey met her future husband (most likely) by swiping right on an app. That’s the scoop from People’s source, who didn’t reveal the name of the app. Odds are they met on Raya, the exclusive dating app that requires applications and has a miles-long waiting list.

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Oct. 3, 2019

Dude can sing

Johnson, 31, previously performed high-quality cover tunes in a band with his younger brothers Chantry and Connor, cleverly named the Johnsons. The group posted songs — including a few originals — on YouTube from mid-2014 until May 2017. He was also a touring member of the band Stereo Skyline in early 2010. The brothers posted a series of Q&A videos a few years back, revealing the answers to Tiger Beat-style questions about their lives. (Yes, they like sports.)

It’s a relatively new thing

As recently as January, Del Rey walked the Grammys red carpet with Sean “Sticks” Larkin, the former host of cop reality show “Live PD.” But in March, he confirmed they were no longer romantically involved. “Right now, we’re just friends,” Larkin told the New York Times. “We still talk and whatnot, we just have busy schedules right now.” No app was involved in that relationship: The two simply crossed paths through work and hit it off.

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Fans have known for a while

“So are you and Lana having kids???,” one fan asked in an Instagram comment posted three weeks ago on one of Johnson’s posts. Another fan chimed in around the same time: “I wish some Lana fans would know a little respect and not run off her boyfriends all the time by commenting nonsense ... let them live their best life.”

Also, there was the following photo, posted in early November, where fans swore they recognized Del Rey by her feet. (“Guard those feet with your life,” a commenter advised.)

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He’s a California native

While L.A.-based Del Rey has roots in New York, where she was born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant in Manhattan, her fiancé is a West Coast native. Johnson was born in Modesto and graduated from Grace M. Davis High School before moving about 300 miles south to Los Angeles in 2007 to pursue music, according to the Modesto Bee. Alas, he’s still a fan of Northern California sports teams.

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