Honeymooner

That's the bottom line. Let's all hope and pray, or whatever you do, that she recovers quickly and can go back to gracing us with her appearances.

She hasn't said specifically herself, but other sources say that she suffers from stomach ulcers, like Kurt Cobain did. I don't think that's been confirmed, though. Last year, during a performance at the Vicar Street Theater in Dublin, Ireland, she was said to have "broken down" during the song "Video Games." Calling it a "breakdown" or a "meltdown," as some publications put it, is a gross exaggeration. There's a really good YouTube video of the performance ( ), with lots of close-ups. You can see her wiping at her eyes a couple of times, but no actual tears showed up. In an interview with The Fader (http://www.thefader.com/2014/06/04/lana-del-rey-cover-interview/), the interviewer writes: "I ask her why she was crying. 'I’d been sick on tour for about two years with this medical anomaly that doctors couldn’t figure out,' she says, to my surprise. 'That’s a big part of my life: I just feel really sick a lot of the time and can’t figure out why. I’d gotten these shots in Russia, where we’d just been. It was just heavy. It’s just heavy performing for people who really care about you, and you don’t really care that much about yourself sometimes. I thought it was sad. I thought my position was sad. I thought it was sad to be in Ireland singing for people who really cared when I wasn’t sure if I did.' I’d expected self-congratulation, the triumph of finally making it. You never really know.” Also, it is often said (including in the above Fader interview) that Lana said to the Vicar Street audience, "I think you’re going to have to sing it for me.” For me? Nooooooo.... if you watch the video, you can clearly hear her say "WITH me," not "FOR me." In the beginning, when she first started performing live, she was a bit of a nervous wreck. She admitted on many occasions that she was a nervous performer. But that was then... One would think that, by now, 2.5 years and hundreds of performances later, she wouldn't be such a bundle of nerves. She has, more recently, said that she still gets a little nervous at first, but by the time the first song is done, she's OK and into her groove. I've never seen her look nervous during performances in the last 2 years, though, so she must hide it well. LDR may be many things, but I'm certain "lazy" isn't one of them. With as much as she does, and as on-the-go as she is, laziness wouldn't factor into the equation. Unless we're given a good reason otherwise, let's just take her reps at their words.

I just feel very bad for her. It's no secret that she's been battling stomach ulcers, or whatever this "mystery illness" of hers is, for some time now. I think she's been trying to push through it, but perhaps all the recent travelling between the US and Europe was just too much for her. Of course it's disappointing to her audience; I'm sure it's equally disappointing and frustrating for her, too. No star likes to cancel appearances; it's bad publicity. And as much as Lana adores her fans, she knows this is bad (especially having cancelled on Virgin Radio before), and I really don't think she would do this unless she really had no choice (ref. Lorde postponing her Australian tour earlier is year due to ill health). One can only hope that, with the support of her fans, she will get through this and be able to reschedule her missed appearances. Get well soon, Lana!

If the reason she cancelled really were medical, then Virgin Radio should be more understanding. It's no secret that she's had medical issues. She talked about it quite a bit last year after her concert at the Vicar Street Theater in Dublin. It IS a bit coincidental that it happened twice to Virgin Radio, but the statement from Polydor/Universal indicates that she was cancelling several appearances. I'm inclined to to believe them, especially since I'm generally one who will trust someone's word until I'm given a good reason not to. As for Virgin not playing Lana's music... well, their loss. And that of their listeners.

OK, couple o' quick questions: 1) In 2012, after SNL, Lana was supposed to appear on Letterman and Ellen. I've seen the Letterman performance on YouTube, but haven't found her on Ellen. Did she ever make that appearance? 2) Has she ever sung "Once Upon a Dream" live? I haven't been able to find that, either. If not, any ideas why?

"Video Games..." never looked at the printed lyrics, and all this time, I thought the 2nd line was "Open up a beer and you take it over here and play your video games." Now I see that it's actually "Open up a beer and you say 'get over here'"...

Also now found myself liking "Ride"...

From the Amoeba... I like it! It's different without the strings and percussion. I didn't notice any hint of her tearing up, though, except perhaps at the end after she says "Thank You..." I don't know if that brief pout was an "I'm-trying-not-to-cry" pout or an "I love you guys very much" pout.

Make that 19 songs. Quoting myself... that's bad, LOL. Well put, radian! That's one of the reasons I love her so much, too. I don't identify with the lyrics, but the music and her voice are gorgeous. I also love her because she's so down-to-earth and kind to her fans. I agree! Sometimes when I really listen closely to the words, I can almost feel like I'm seeing what she's seeing through her eyes.

Do you have an example of this? (Link, perhaps?) I've watched several live performances of "Without You" and have never noticed her even looking like she was tearing up.

"Radio" - I came to like this song after initially not particularly caring for it. Now it's part of my playlist. I also discovered the UV bonus track "Is This Happiness" recently, and immediately fell in love with it. I guess that wouldn't qualify as a song growing on me, since I hadn't heard it before, and as soon as I heard it, I loved it.

Totally off topic, but notice the OP's sign says "Wknd Two Only" next to Lorde? That's because she'll be here in San Diego on October 10. Had tickets since April; excited to see her. But, I wish Lana was coming to town...

I know we got a little off topic, but one thing I forgot to mention in my original post is that in general, it seems that her vibrato is stronger and more consistent when she's in her upper register, rather than the lower. I'm not sure why, since at least in my opinion, her voice sounds better overall in the lower register. But even in the earlier years, when you hear her sing songs like "Born To Die" and "National Anthem," where she does some showy stuff near the end of the songs, singing mid to high notes, you can hear some nice vibrato there.

Yeah, having seen the videos 2.5 years after and reading about all the backlash and hate, I felt soooo bad for her. I could see that she had already gained a lot of respect, even more so after Ultraviolence came out. I really did not understand the hate that her SNL performance generated. I mean, sure, it wasn't her best performance, but it really wasn't bad, either.

I haven't noticed a change for the worse in her voice at this point... it seems stronger than it was 2 years ago. Either that, or she's just gained confidence. In the live performance videos I've seen on YouTube, I've actually only ever heard her voice crack once, and that was at the iTunes Festival back in 2012. When she sang "National Anthem," when she does all that "oooohhh"-ing at the end, I heard it crack once when she reached up for a high note. I'm with you there... I wish she'd give up smoking, too. I'm afraid for what it will do to her voice in the future. She can still do that now... have you seen/heard her perform "Cola," usually her opening number? She belts out some really high notes near the end of that number, and seems to not have any problems doing it. A lot of people actually had problems at Coachella this year. Apparently, it was very dusty out there. Lorde came back with a chest infection and had to postpone her Australian tour, and even Pharrell Williams was almost completely hoarse by the end of his performance.

I agree. She makes me swoon. And I'm not a swooner. Having only been a fan of Lana since May, I didn't see the SNL performance when it came out. (And I don't have cable, so I never would've seen it anyway... plus, I don't watch SNL anyway... heheh) I saw videos of more recent performances before I ever saw the SNL videos, but even so, I did not think the SNL videos were bad at all. I thought she sang quite well, actually, despite being nervous. She just didn't have much stage presence. In that department, she has improved by leaps and bounds. Oh, and you may have noticed in the SNL video that she changed "shit" to "shoot," since she was on national TV... Though "bitches" stayed as it was, since that word is allowed on TV now. But "shit" is the normal lyric. I do remember one European performance I saw where she changed "bitches" to something else, possibly a word more appropriate to the country she was in? I just can't remember what it was now.

Just another video sharing site like YouTube Agreed! Yeah it is! She does that at most live performances of that song.

I agree, she is magnificent. But, from what I've been reading, it seems that "The Man I Love" might be fake, fan-made... hard to say. It sure sounds like her! I liked her SNL performances, too!! She did seem nervous, especially in "Video Games." But she was not pitchy, contrary to what other reviews said. Her intonation was good (and I have perfect pitch, so I'd know ). In "Blue Jeans," she got a bit to close to the mic when she said the word "Burn..." it came out as "Walked into the room you know you made my eyes BBBURN." By the way, her SNL videos are still on Vimeo: Video Games: http://vimeo.com/80513813 Blue Jeans: http://vimeo.com/80513814

I heard that after SNL, she had received coaching on the use on in-ear monitors, but I didn't know one way or the other about any vocal coaching. True! The same could probably be said of just about anyone, though. Good point. I think it's how she wants to make it sound. Sometimes, when she gets into her mid-high register, she sounds more airy/breathy, and sometimes she sounds more deep/full. Using your name as an example, in the song "Blue Jeans," on the album, she sounds more airy in the upper register ("I will love you till the end of time..."), whereas in her SNL performance, that part of the song didn't have the same sound. I can imagine! Yeah, I don't either. I remember hearing about her being coached in the use of in-ear monitors, but I don't remember about vocal coaching. That's especially true in her lower register. I've noticed that in live performances, she often doesn't dive deep into her really low register in songs like "Summertime Sadness" and even "Video Games." In SS, on the album, she hits a low C# below middle C. In live performances (which they often take up a half step), she doesn't go anywhere near that low C# (or really, it would be D when they take it up). I suppose despite being mic'd, with the band and crowd noise, her voice would get lost in that low register, and I'm sure she knows that. Perhaps not, although have you heard her perform "Million Dollar Man" live? She really belts out some of those higher notes, and I've noticed her voice taking on an almost Bernadette Peters-like quality when she does that. I don't know if that's intentional, or if that's just the effect of her trying to sing that loudly and forcefully. It's an interesting sound coming from her... not my first choice, but not bad, either. That's the beauty of studio recordings -- you can manipulate everything, including your voice volume. That's why she can sing those really low notes on the album and still project well. Totally agree with you there.

Hey everyone, I'm curious to see what some of my fellow musicians (instrumental or vocal, doesn't matter) have to say on this topic. I've heard it said that Lana's voice has gotten stronger since Born To Die came out. I think Ultraviolence is certainly proof of that. But one thing I've also noticed is that her vibrato has improved dramatically. In the beginning, it seemed like it was sometimes shaky and unsteady, and was always kind of fast and fluttery. The songs on Born To Die had that quality. Paradise was a small improvement. You can really only tell when she holds sustained notes. "American" is a good example. Take the chorus: "You make me crazy / You make me wiiiii-iiiild..." On that last held note, you can hear her vibrato, and while it's better than it had been in the past, it's still a bit fast for my taste. Fast forward to "Young and Beautiful" -- again, a marginal improvement, but still fluttery. Fast forward again to "Once Upon a Dream," and there's still more improvement. But, where I noticed the most dramatic change was in the bonus track "Is This Happiness" on Ultraviolence. When she holds "Is this happineeessssssss". you can really hear a change. Her vibrato is slower and wider than even on other UV songs. To me, this is the most beautiful her voice has ever sounded. I wonder if she had any sort of vocal coaching, or if she just changed on her own, or...? "Is This Happiness" is definitely my favorite UV track. Look forward to discussion

There would be less focus on her as an individual if she were part of a band, I suppose. When I think of Guns 'n' Roses, I don't think of only Axl Rose. When I think of The Doors, I don't think of just Jim Morrison. Anyone who thinks of The Beatles wouldn't be thinking of only John Lennon or only Paul McCartney. Perhaps if she hadn't been a solo artist, she would never have adopted the moniker Lana Del Rey, and would be known as Lizzy Grant, the lead singer of blah-blah-blah.

Ahh, no wonder, I haven't watched that video in a long time. *Goes to watch it again*

I'm a bit late to the party on this thread, but I'll say pretty much what a lot of others have said: Lana hasn't been around long enough for us to be able to determine whether or not she is an icon. She certainly has a unique style and sound, but that in itself doesn't make her an icon. Two of my other favorite singers, Kim Wilde and Laura Branigan, were around for a long time (Laura died in 2004, but Kim is still around and still making music). They both made music for a long time, but I wouldn't consider either of them icons. The Beatles? Jim Morrison? Those are icons.

For the most part, she already does have the same people playing with her every time. She has the same pianist (Byron), guitarist (Blake), keyboardist and drummer pretty much all the time. I think she gets different string players, depending on where she is. For most of her European performances whose videos I've seen, it's been the same string group, but then there were different ones here in the US.

@@West Coast, where does the video clip in your signature come from?