Buried within Lana Del Rey’s enchanting Hyde Park performance is a clue. “This was a second home for a long time,” she says, addressing the London crowd. “You basically made us what we were and allowed us to serve for the last 13 years.”
Even this far into the singer’s career, mysteries remain – and one of those concerns her mostly unreported London years. In the early 2010s, a blonde New York songwriter called Lizzy Grant released her debut studio album. It was a failure, and an unhappy Del Rey retreated to Britain. Decline and obscurity could easily have followed – but her time in London turned out to be formative. She was buoyed by a group of British creatives who helped dust her off and get her back on her feet. And on her next attempt, Del Rey was catapulted to fame. Almost the entirety of Born To Die was co-written with three British writers, including Justin Parker, a man from Lincoln with whom she wrote 2012’s “Video Games”, her biggest hit to date. The cover of the album, and its sleeve images, which depict a US neighbourhood, were actually shot in a Watford suburb on “zero budget”, according to those present. Born To Die might be an American classic – but it was made in London.
