Elton John has recently reached out to Lana Del Rey with some advice after the singer’s famously trashed debut performance on “Saturday Night Live” back in 2012 in a “Musicians on Musicians” interview for Rolling Stone.
Elton and @LanaDelRey are @RollingStone cover stars for their first Musicians on Musicians issue! 🌟✨ Read their in-depth chat on songwriting, 1970s LA and the thrill of live shows ➡️ https://t.co/Frxy2xPRY8 pic.twitter.com/6Mb7Gxr7oK
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) October 24, 2019
As he recalled that it was his first conversation with the singer at the time, John, 72, recalled:
“I rang you up and said, “Listen, I just want to offer my help. I know you’re sober and everything, but just don’t take any notice of these people.””
“You came through that awful thing in that Saturday Night Live [in 2012]. Which was so distressing for someone like me to see someone so crucified. I’ve watched it, and it wasn’t that bad!”
As the American singer, songwriter replied that it wasn’t that terrible, in her opinion, Elton John, winner of five Grammy Awards, continued:
“It wasn’t terrible at all…I don’t know what the agenda was there, but where was the #MeToo movement there?”
“Oh, you said it, not me!” Del Rey quipped.
Lana Del Rey later remembered how that performance marked “the one night in all my time performing that I wasn’t nervous,” adding:
“I remember the intention I had… Looking back, there was a more eccentric performative approach to it. I was thinking about Maria Callas, or someone darker coming through.”
Elton John compared the situation to the lip sync fiasco with Ashlee Simpson, dating to 2004.
“I didn’t think it was a major f***up. I saw Ashlee Simpson and, yeah, that’s a major f***up. That’s funny. Not to her it isn’t, but it’s very funny to watch,” said Elton John.
“I’m not laughing,” Lana Del Rey replied.
The iconic English singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer commended Del Rey for pushing through the criticism:
“Most people, that would have flattened them forever. It was an outrageous assault.”
As social media fans flocked to Twitter to voice their admiration of the two performers, many simply posted one word, “legend”.
two icons being iconic love to see it
— 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 (@theresakost13) October 24, 2019
LEGENDS
— camila (@theonedelrey) October 24, 2019
Omg this is the CUTEST
— 𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔶 #1 Warm stan (@nextlevelbilly) October 24, 2019
A collab of this legends would be a completely master piece
— Alexandre Michaels (@alexandre_her7) October 24, 2019
Some fans, however, were perplexed by Elton John’s reference to the #MeToo movement:
What’s does #MeToo have to do with a bad vocal performance?
— ✨Mother Monster✨ (@VenusIsAWoman) October 25, 2019
Hey Elton stop you are just embarrassing yourself. 🙄🙄😊
— ShRH (@rejvani) October 25, 2019
Where was the #metoo movement every time you trashed and bullied Madonna unnecessarily, you hypocrite? @eltonofficial
— it’s all madonna's fault ❌ (@madonnas_fault) October 25, 2019
In 2012 the #MeeToo movement was in its infancy.
— Powered by snark 🌈♑ (@Schunard99) October 24, 2019
And isn't it mostly about sexual assault, not a one off bad performance on SNL? Has @eltonofficial slipped a cog? Hope not love that man:)
He's really trying to sell his new book.
— Brandi 🐰🌹🌈⚢🌹🐰 (@EmilyroseRob) October 25, 2019
Lana Del Rey made her national television debut on Saturday Night Live in 2012, performing her viral video hit "Video Games" as well as "Blue Jeans.”
She was subsequently panned by the media, and even NBC News anchor Brian Williams in a leaked email to Gawker’s chief called it “one of worst outings in SNL history."
Del Rey was visibly nervous, according to some accounts, offering up by far not her best work.
The quality of the performance has since been overshadowed by the many heated responses it ignited on the Internet.
Over two years later, the star opened up about how that disastrous performance affected her, as she was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine for the first time in 2014.
We spent two long days with Lana Del Rey for our 2014 cover story. Here's what didn't make it in the story http://t.co/JPOQgyC7OC
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) September 1, 2015
The 28-year-old said of the performance:
“It wasn't dynamic, but it was true to form…Everyone I knew suddenly wasn't so sure about me”.
