She has a couple of special guests in mind for next week, and has been mulling an Eagles cover if she can pull it together and it’s up to her standards. She cites the famous 1968 Jimi Hendrix show at the Bowl where audience members got naked and climbed in fountains (no longer there) as her model for an ideal Bowl show. 10, she’ll take the stage at the Hollywood Bowl, a venue whose place in rock history is very meaningful to her. A decade in, against all odds, Lana Del Rey has established herself as a bonafide rock star in an era in which fewer are minted than ever before. But that fast rise to fame and chauvinist response from some critics didn’t scare her she just doubled down on what she does best: writing songs. She quickly played “Saturday Night Live” and was met with fierce criticism for her look, her sound, her lyrics. After releasing music under the names Lizzy Grant and May Jailer, she took on the mantle of Lana Del Rey. Her career has been unusual in many ways. “There’s a little bit of a lightness to some of the stuff.” On “Norman F- Rockwell,” she lets the sunshine in more than ever. She was tagged as “sadcore” on her earlier albums, but her biggest chart hit was an EDM remix of “Summertime Sadness” and she recently slid in gracefully next to blockbuster pop stars Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande on “Don’t Call Me Angel,” a glossy bit of girl-power branding for the new “Charlie’s Angels” movie. 3 on the Billboard album chart, quite a feat in 2019 for a confessional singer-songwriter who pointedly evokes the ghosts of both hallowed rock poets like Leonard Cohen and the femme fatales of Hollywood’s golden age.
In a white tank top and denim cutoff shorts, makeup-free save for her Bambi lashes, she’s a warm and friendly host, offering a cup of kombucha or a perfect red apple from a bowl on the table, spinning Joni albums to fill the space with sound.ĭel Rey occupies a place in the popular music firmament unlike anyone else. With a little downtime between appearances promoting the record, including her upcoming concert at the Hollywood Bowl, she’s been taking pleasure in doing mundane things: grocery shopping, arranging flowers, catching up on reality TV. She may have originated in New York as Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, but Lana Del Rey has become the preeminent modern practitioner of the California sound - the dreamy, psychedelic style associated with El Lay acts like the Mamas and the Papas and Fleetwood Mac.ĭel Rey, 34, recently released her sixth album, “Norman F- Rockwell,” to nearly unanimous critical acclaim. It’s exactly the kind of idyllic spot in the cradle of L.A.’s ‘60s and ‘70s folk scene - the onetime home of her hero Joni Mitchell - where you’d expect to find one of the world’s most dedicated California music enthusiasts. Just off Laurel Canyon, up a long, rickety flight of outdoor stairs, Lana Del Rey is puttering around the kitchenette of a rented luxe cabin, while a couple of her musician friends hang out on the porch.