Lei was born in Singapore. While she was still a child, her family moved to the United States, living in states such as Massachusetts, Virginia, and Ohio before settling in Las Vegas, Nevada. At 18, she began her exotic dancing career. While working in a Las Vegas dance club, she became intrigued by adult films.




After moving to Los Angeles, California, she immediately began her career in hardcore pornographic films in September 2002. Although she was pursued by other adult film companies, including Vivid Entertainment, Lei became a "Wicked Girl" contract performer for Wicked Pictures in 2003. One of Wicked's performers did not show up for a film shoot and Lei took that actress' role; this performance impressed the company's executives into offering her a contract. As a Wicked Girl, she is said to have worked under the tutelage of Wicked Pictures contract director Michael Raven.




Outside her adult film work, she used to host a radio show on KSEX, Me So Horny With Keylani Lei. Lei has returned to hosting the show as of April 2007 now with co-host Kitty Langdon, succeeding Mika Tan who was hosting the show after Lei left initially. Lei has made an appearance on the Howard Stern radio show while he was on national broadcast radio (pre-Sirius satellite radio change over), and makes appearances on Playboy TV. In 2007 she was the co star of the Cinemax series The Erotic Traveler, as Allison Kraft, apprentice erotic photographer.




On the business front, Lei inked a deal with California Exotic Novelties for her own line of sex toys.




After meeting in December 2005, Lei began dating Byron Kelleher, a New Zealand rugby union halfback. However in June 2006, The Sunday News reported that the two had split up.