Lana Del Rey, born as Elizabeth Grant, stands out as an artist who has consistently upheld her distinctive style since her debut studio album, Born to Die. While this album received mixed reviews from critics, her unique blend of melancholic and bold songs propelled her to the international spotlight. Not to mention the impact she had on an entire generation, which longed for a look and a voice like hers, and which, today, has served as inspiration for several renowned artists.
Born To Influence: Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish & Madison Beer
Lana Del Rey’s talent has earned her high-profile admirers, like the iconic Elton John, who has even compared her to Prince. In addition to her music, she expanded her creative repertoire in 2020 by releasing a book of poetry titled ‘Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass.’ Bruce Springsteen called her as one of the greatest American songwriters.
But Lana has served as inspiration for young artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Madison Beer, just to mention a few. During Billie’s appearance on Dua Lipa‘s podcast, ‘At Your Service,’ Eilish mentioned that the album Born To Die, held significant importance in her life: “I feel that that album changed music and especially changed music for girls and the potential of what is possible”.
On the other hand, as The Hollywood Reported wrote, Olivia Rodrigo pays homage to Del Rey lyrics: “Lana’s work taught me how effective sentimentality can be in songwriting. She defies any stereotypes of what a woman writing pop songs should or shouldn’t be. She’s constantly pushing boundaries and making work that is fresh, adventurous and unabashedly feminine.” For W Magazine, also expressed admiration for Lana’s breakthrough song «Video Games.»
I still consider that song to be probably the best love song of all time. She captures sadness, anger and sensuality in a way only the greatest of songwriters ever could.”
Finally, Madison Beer recently released her new album titled Silence Between Songs, in which she also found inspiration from Del Rey: “Lana was definitely a breath of fresh air for me and I try to be the same with young artists coming up now –a supporter or a voice of reason where I can be.”
But what’s Lana’s secret? Well, according to Jack Antonoff, is that Lana simply is who she is: “She’s really one of the greatest songwriters and vocalists who also likes to roll around in her truck and drink gas-station coffee.” And she demonstrated it at the Waffle House.
Say Yes to Heaven, Say Yes to… Waffle House?
In March of this year, Lana released her ninth studio album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, and embarked on a tour after a three-year absence from the stage. On August 15, she performed in front of her largest audience to date, with an estimated 65,000 fans in attendance at the Foro Sol in Mexico City. But the most talked-about news about the singer hasn’t been her success or her latest album, but rather her time at Waffle House, where she was seen dressed in uniform and serving customers.
Almost two months later, Del Rey finally explained the Waffle House situation to The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that during the early part of the summer, she spent about a week in Florence, where she, her brother, and her sister routinely visited the restaurant for breakfast and conversation most mornings. “We were on our third hour, and the servers asked, ‘Do you guys want shirts?’ Hell yeah! We were thrilled.”
Then Lana joked about how she wished her most recent album went as viral as her videos and photos of Waffle House: “I woke up to, like, 10,000 texts the next morning –some from folks I had not heard from for 10 years. ‘Saw your picture at the Waffle House!’ I was like, ‘Did you hear the new album?’”
USA
ES
MX
CO
CH
PA
ARG
CR
GUA
EC
RD
