# Lana Del Rey's Performance on SNL January 14th, 2012: Was She High or Something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686 "2012-01-16T13:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/1 "2012-01-16T13:00:13Z")
The absolute worst live performance I’ve ever seen on that show. She was so off-key it was borderline painful. Seriously, was she drunk or high or something when she performed? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/2 "2012-01-16T15:00:37Z")
Got a link? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/3 "2012-01-16T15:34:11Z")
She seemed to be doing a spacy/aloof lounge-singer shtick, but I couldn’t tell if it involved actual intoxication or was purely an affectation. Heard the name before, but had never heard her sing until the SNL performance, which as you said, was monumentally terrible. She was being brutally savaged for it on Twitter and the blogosphere last I checked. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/4 "2012-01-16T15:43:41Z")
I haven’t seen it but other live performances of hers have been awful. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/5 "2012-01-16T15:47:54Z")
> **[Lana Del Rey SNL Performance](https://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/lana-del-ray-video-games-saturday-night-live/)** > > We like Lana Del Rey. But we must be honest: this was a rather weak performance on her part during Saturday Night Live. Painful to watch. Beth Gibbons she ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/6 "2012-01-16T15:56:09Z")
[Lana Del Ray “Video Games” live on SNL](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zrvD-o8cII) [Lana Del Ray “Blue Jeans” live on SNL](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J90Rgppgayw) That was certainly lackluster, but she didn’t seem intoxicated to me and the SNL perfomances were roughly consistent with her singing in the studio tracks that I’ve heard. I met plenty of pitch-wise inconsistent singers in my time as a musician, but none of them made it to SNL. ---
**Author:** ![charmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@charmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charmstr)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/7 "2012-01-16T16:09:09Z")
SNL has been around for such a long time that it’s unlikely to be the worst performance ever on the show. Having written that, though, I have to agree with you that what I heard of it was horrendous. Interestingly (to me anyway), the only reason I was watching SNL was because of a much worse musical performance. Over the holidays I turned on a program called [VH1 Divas Celebrates (sic) Soul](http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/divas/_2011/) specifically to hear Florence Welch perform. I had never heard her and wanted to. She came on and was just awful. It was as if she were singing a completely different melody (or the same one in a different key) from that being performed by the band and backup singers. In fact, it was so bad I started to wonder if maybe it was on purpose; that maybe this was how the song was _supposed_ to sound. I marked it down to being another possible proof of my advancing years and forgot about it. When I saw that Florence and the Machine was being featured on a rerun of SNL, I tuned in to get confirmation on my theory. The performance as much better, but I was much more impressed with the the fact that the show as a whole was pretty funny. So the only reason I tuned in Saturday and heard the first (8 bars) of Lana del Rey’s song was because of an even more out-of-tune awful singing performance. By the way, this is the second time I’ve seen Lana del Rey perform live on television and based on that, I have to say I think she just isn’t very talented or skilled vocally. On the other hand, she gets points for not using autotune. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/8 "2012-01-16T16:34:37Z")
Florence Welch is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/9 "2012-01-16T17:39:29Z")
It sounds like she was gasping for breath. Like, did she have pneumonia or something? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/10 "2012-01-16T17:55:10Z")
What’s crazy is that for weeks, I’ll I’ve been hearing is how amazing Lana Del Rey is-- how she’s the one to watch, etc. I was excited to watch SNL to see what I was missing. Oh, lord. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/11 "2012-01-16T18:06:33Z")
> [@Gary\_Kumquat](#): > > [Lana Del Rey SNL Performance - The Hollywood Gossip](http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/lana-del-ray-video-games-saturday-night-live/) > > Painful to watch. Beth Gibbons she ain’t. If you mute your computer before you click play, it’s not painful at all. ---
**Author:** ![Enlightening\_Meditation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecc23a/32.png) [@Enlightening\_Meditation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enlightening_Meditation)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/12 "2012-01-16T18:55:41Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > What’s crazy is that for weeks, I’ll I’ve been hearing is how amazing Lana Del Rey is-- how she’s the one to watch, etc. I was excited to watch SNL to see what I was missing. I’ve been hearing how amazing Bob Dylan is from lots of sources. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo9\_6jSIxyc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo9_6jSIxyc) Ms. Rey could be a legend in the making. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/13 "2012-01-16T19:41:34Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > If you mute your computer before you click play, it’s not painful at all. I bet it stung a little when they jabbed her upper lip with the collagen needle. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/14 "2012-01-16T20:38:27Z")
That was very… amateurish. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/15 "2012-01-17T02:16:20Z")
Was this good? No. But it certainly wasn’t horrible or even off key. It sounded like she’s trying to affect a Fiona Apple vocal style, but with Lou Reed’s vocal range. My gut guess is that like many modern singers, her voice is so processed in the studio she hasn’t learned the proper vocal inflection you need to sing live. She should never been on SNL this early; she should have done a couple of low key club dates to learn how to sing in concert. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/16 "2012-01-17T02:21:14Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Was this good? No. But it certainly wasn’t horrible or even off key. It sounded like she’s trying to affect a Fiona Apple vocal style, but with Lou Reed’s vocal range. My gut guess is that like many modern singers, her voice is so processed in the studio she hasn’t learned the proper vocal inflection you need to sing live. She should never been on SNL this early; she should have done a couple of low key club dates to learn how to sing in concert. She’s been doing a bunch of club dates. By every account I’ve read, they’ve all been terrible. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/17 "2012-01-17T02:47:29Z")
My understanding is that she was a semi popular hipster indie artist, but her label wanted to rebrand her so she could go mainstream. Supposedly, they decided her particular brand would be “gangsta Nancy Sinatra” (I don’t see it). Her previous name was “Lizzy Grant,” under which she released her indie album (her birth name is Elizabeth Grant). Incidentally, her indie album was financed by her dad, multimillionaire investor Rob Grant. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/18 "2012-01-17T02:55:34Z")
I kinda liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/19 "2012-01-17T05:16:55Z")
> [@Enlightening\_Meditation](#): > > I’ve been hearing how amazing Bob Dylan is from lots of sources. Amazing songwriter, sure. No one – not even someone stone blind drunk or certifiably insane – ever thought he was a good singer. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686/20 "2012-01-17T12:21:40Z")
Hey, _you guys_ try to deliver a good singing performance on an episode that leads with Kirsten Wiig’s Target cashier character. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lana-del-reys-performance-on-snl-january-14th-2012-was-she-high-or-something/609686.md?page=2)