Lana Del Rey Explains Her Viral Shift at Waffle House
Back in July, video footage surfaced of Lana Del Rey behind the counter at a Waffle House in Florence, Alabama, leaving fans to speculate about why she had briefly taken a new “job.” In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the singer served up an explanation of how she ended up wearing the breakfast chain’s uniform and serving a customer.
According to Del Rey, she had spent several hours in a booth with her brother and sister at the local Waffle House before being offered the restaurant’s familiar blue top. “We were on our third hour, and the servers asked, ‘Do you guys want shirts?’” she told THR. “Hell yeah! We were thrilled.”
After donning the uniform and taking a few selfies, Del Rey was encouraged to take a quick order. “This guy, a regular, comes in every day and orders two things, so they were like, ‘Just go get it for him!’” she remembered. “I brought him a Coke. No ice. And an empty cup for dip. I didn’t see anyone take a video of me.”
By Del Rey’s account, it all sounds like a wholesome experience — if not a particularly exciting one. But because the fan-shot footage and photos spread across social media like wildfire, she woke up to a deluge of messages on her phone. “I wish my album had gone as viral,” she laughed. “I woke up to, like, 10,000 texts the next morning — some from folks I had not heard from for 10 years. ‘Saw your picture at the Waffle House!’ I was like, ‘Did you hear the new album?’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Del Rey shared how she felt about young artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo crediting her as an inspiration. “Because Billie and Olivia are such good people, it’s fucking awesome. I love them and their music,” she said. “If you happen to be nice and a great singer, it makes me happy for the culture.” She added that she had always felt like “the older sister to pretty much everyone I ever met.”
Earlier this year, Eilish told Dua Lipa that Del Rey’s Born to Die “changed music” — especially for “girls and the potential of what is possible.” Meanwhile, Taylor Swift described her Midnights collaborator as “the best that we have” during a Las Vegas stop of her “Eras Tour.”
Del Rey released her latest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, in March. Catch her performing it live on her North American amphitheater tour this fall; grab your tickets here. Check out our recaps of her recent sets at Festival D’été de Québec and Newport Folk Festival for a preview of what to expect.
