Is Lana Del Rey working on a country album? That’s the question many fans have been asking all year. She teased a country-leaning song called “Henry, Come On” in January. Before that, she appeared on a song with Father John Misty and covered the John Denver classic “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” She’s not doing anything to shake the speculation. Recently a video of her singing the Waylon Jennings classic “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” surfaced.
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Del Rey was in Mérida, Mexico for her friend Valerie’s wedding when the video was shot, according to the post. The clip shows the singer and her friend’s dad singing the outlaw country classic karaoke style during the wedding rehearsal dinner. While it’s not the best version of the song ever captured, everyone seems to be having a great time. Additionally, the fact that Del Rey knows the ode to the small Texas ghost town lends more credence to rumors of her releasing a country album.
[RELATED: Lana Del Rey Talks Her Upcoming Album ‘Lasso’, Naysayers, and “Going Country”]
So, What About That Lana Del Rey Country Album?
Lana Del Rey announced her country album Lasso in February at the Billboard and BMPA Songwriter Awards. In May, she spoke about the album in an interview with NME.
“When I gave Jack Antonoff his award for Best Producer of the Year, I said, ‘Welcome Nashville to Hollywood and Hollywood, welcome to Nashville because the music business has gone, gone country,’” she recalled. “It went silent. 5,000 people. Dead silent. Then, the next week, we had three major artists announce big country albums. So, where’s Lasso going? I really have no idea now,” she added.
Del Rey was slated to release Lasso in September. However, it didn’t happen. Better luck next year, maybe.
Waylon Jennings Wasn’t a Fan of “Luckenbach”
Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons co-wrote “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” and Waylon Jennings recorded it multiple times. First, he recorded the song as a duet with Willie Nelson for his 1977 album Ol’ Waylon. He also cut a live version of the song with the Highwaymen.
The original version of the song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also landed at No. 25 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart, giving Jennings and Nelson a crossover hit. However, Jennings never liked the song.
“I knew it was a hit song, even though I didn’t like it—and still don’t,” he wrote in his 1996 autobiography.
Featured image by Joseph Okpako/Getty Images for ABA
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