Kelsey Elizabeth McJunkins (born May 12, 1991), known professionally as Kelsey Lu, is an American singer and cellist based in Los Angeles, California.
Kelsey Lu was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and had a strict Jehovah's Witness upbringing. Both of Lu's parents are musicians: their father is a percussionist, their mother a pianist. Their father's family hails from Nigeria. Lu began studying classical composition at age 6, learning piano, violin, and cello. At age 18, Lu left their family home to attend the University of North Carolina School of the Arts on a scholarship. A year later, they dropped out of the school.
Kelsey Lu recorded their debut EP, Church, in a church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. During this time, they toured with the band Wet as their opening act. They released Church in 2016. They released their debut album, Blood, in 2019. In that year, they also released Blood Transfusion, a collection of remixes of tracks from Blood. Lu uses they/them pronouns.
On March 18, 2026, Lu announced their second studio album So Help Me God with the release of the single "Running to Pain". Produced by Jack Antonoff and Yves Rothman, the album is scheduled for release on June 12 via the label Dirty Hit. Featured artists will include Sampha, Kamasi Washington, and Kim Gordon.