Lana Del Rey must wonder who she has to fuck to win a Grammy Award. Once again this week she walked away empty-handed.
In an industry obsessed with sales figures, it’s baffling that they have so consistently ignored someone with a nine-album body of work who has sold 41 million records and an astounding 58 BILLION streams.
I haven’t followed her career closely but sometimes I wish I had, because I am drawn to artists whose fans fervently love everything they do – and she is nothing if not one of those.
Like everyone else I was overwhelmed by this debut single back in 2011, with its sad strings and wounded vocal and this video that’s like a vintage Hollywood take on La Dolce Vita.
Its melancholy mood, its romantic lyrics – she knows he’s bad for her but she can’t stop loving him – and its nostalgic images, not least the sadness behind the smouldering passion in her eyes, always make me want to cry.
It’s been viewed nearly 340 million times on YouTube alone.
Still not enough to squeeze her into one of the 94 awards categories at the Grammys though.