Born Elizabeth Mencel on April 14, 1993 into a jazz-loving family, she grew up in the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Montgomeryville. Taking to music early, she began piano lessons at age six and eventually became a multi-instrumental prodigy also proficient on clarinet, saxophone, guitar, violin, flute, and trumpet, as well as an accomplished singer.

Mencel attended college in Philly for one year before dropping out to pursue music as a career. Her first recorded appearance, in 2014, was as featured vocalist on the song "Limelight" by young Australian EDM producer Just a Gent. The track was hugely popular, going on to rack up over 2.5 million listens on SoundCloud. Mencel was pleased by the reaction, but totally unprepared to find herself followed on Twitter by enormously successful New York EDM duo the Chainsmokers, who then contacted her to say they loved her voice and would be interested in collaborating with her. The result was "Roses," which she co-wrote and sang lead vocals on; the song went to number six on the U.S. Billboard chart, propelling her to fame at the tender age of 21.

In 2015, Mencel released her debut solo single as Rozes, "R U Mine." Not content to simply ride the coattails of her Chainsmokers success, she immediately stood out with her original sound: lush, ethereal electronic pop with elements of house, EDM, synth pop, electro, and broken beat, and frank lyrics about the insecurities of young love, delivered in a mature, sultry singing voice with a distinctive accent, heavily treated with effects. Two further singles followed, the gauzy "Fragile" and the uptempo "In & Out." Both were included on Rozes' debut self-released EP, Burn Wild, which dropped in February 2016. ~ John D. Buchanan