Even if she doesn’t go full on fiddles and banjos with it, the fact that Lana Del Rey is potentially making a foray into country music proves the genre is the cool kid on the block these days.
Sure, we don’t expect her to go full on fiddles, boots, and banjos with it, but there’s been happening with her in the country music space of late that shows she’s at least interested in dabbling with the genre.
Back in 2021, she teased an already recorded classic country cover album in an interview with MOJO. Then in August of 2022, she posted an Instagram story which said in part:
“I hope you guys like country music”
More recently, she showed support for Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At A Time album by leaving a heart emoji comment on his Instagram post and then said in an interview that the last song she had listened to was Wallen’s “Born With A Beer In My Hand”
@withhisultraviolence_ whos morgan wallace @Lana Del Rey @Familyheirlooms #lanadelrey #ldr #lanadelreystans #lanadelreytok #lanadelreycult #lana #lanacult #lanatok #lanadelreystan #lanadelreyfan #lanadelreyaesthetic #borntodie #ultraviolence #fy #foryoupage #fyp #lizzygrant #honeymoon #trending #viral #lana ♬ original sound – 🤍m&m
Most recently, she hoped on stage at Robert’s Western World in downtown Nashville for a performance of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man”, which was truly incredible. So yeah, there’s been quite a bit of noise around a potential country album from the alternative indie/folk star, but now it seems that project is coming to fruition.
Just today, Lana released a cover of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” which has become an all-time staple in the genre, despite some qualms about whether John Denver really counts as a country artist or not. (Admittedly, that’s really something just us diehards get into and if you ask most people they would just say yes, he is. He put out a song titled “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” for cripes sake.)
“Country Roads” was released as a 1971 single and had huge success right out of the gate, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going on to sell over a million and a half copies in the United States alone.
Although originally written for Johnny Cash, the song is now synonymous with John Denver and the state of West Virginia, which dubbed it their official song in 2014.
Lana’s version is still undeniably in her own style, but I’ve gotta say, if this is the first taste of the project, I’m really excited for what’s to come.
Would love to hear some Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap, and Loretta Lynn, but if there’s one thing we can trust from Lana, it’s having good artistic taste, so I’m sure whatever she decides to release is going to be pure gold.
