The musician Lana Del Rey considered her “greatest modern-day inspiration”
Lana Del Rey has friends in very high places.
Recently, Hole frontwoman and media busybody Courtney Love revealed that Del Rey provided her with rent-free housing for an entire year, letting out her own house in Malibu when Love was in a spot of bother… The ‘Summertime Sadness’ singer didn’t do it for the clout; the story only leaked to the media when Love herself was asked about her friendship with Del Ray.
Other famous friends include Taylor Swift, whose Midnights track ‘Snow on the Beach’ Del Rey appeared on, Jack Antonoff, who produced her latest release, and The Weeknd, whom she has been close to since the very beginning of her career – all of these household names can boast unprecedented insight into the inner mind of the mysterious figure.
However committed a friend, when Del Rey discussed who her “greatest modern-day inspiration” is, none of these names left her mouth. Rather, in a 2014 discussion with Rolling Stone, Del Rey gestured towards another musician altogether: “Other than Cat Power, he’s my greatest modern-day inspiration. I just love him so much,” she said of Father John Misty.
In that same year, Father John Misty supported the New York native on a number of her US tour dates. Two years later, the ‘Real Love Baby’ appeared in her bizarre, left-field 11-minute music video for her song, ‘Freak’, playing Del Rey’s paramour and cult leader figure. After dropping acid in the desert, he joins the star in an underwater fantasy sequence with a group of hazy-eyed nymphs.
Father John Misty, whose real name is Josh Tillman, showed this same obsessive, mind-altered intensity when discussing his off-screen love for Del Rey at the time, insisting that she was the cult figure in their relationship, despite his ‘Freak’ persona… “I’d do anything she told me to do,” he shared obsessively.
Beyond their interpersonal lives, their sonic worlds overlap, too. The Americana-sheen of their folkish titliations, expansive like a cinema screen and moody like the morning after, are both inspired by West Coast mythology and old Hollywood. Del Rey is arguably at her best when they combine forces, such as on ‘Let The Light In’ on the acoustic duet from 2023’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.
Tillman might be her biggest modern-day inspiration, but looking towards frontmen throughout rock and roll history, Del Rey has another obsession. She might’ve watched Tillman from the side of the stage on plenty of nights on their shared tour back in the day, but with Guns ‘N’ Roses, she’s been right in the thick of the crowd, lapping it all in.
Therefore, Del Rey has her eyes on Axl Rose as the best frontman going: Beyond Father John Misty’s suave, yet refined, showmanship, Rose is hardcore, “Axl is perfect, he’s exactly what I thought he would be,” she shared, before adding, “He’s an inspiration, he goes onstage for three-and-a-half hours every night, you know? He doesn’t get tired, it’s amazing, stamina”… Sounds like Lana should take a leaf out of his book.
