“There’s something so romantic about New York City in the summer,” said Lana Del Rey, as she settled into breakfast on the patio of a restaurant in the West Village of Manhattan. It was a beautiful morning: midseason sunny, clear sky, a light breeze. “I’m thinking of sitting on fire escapes and writing in my journal. The mood in the summer is so lazy and engaging.” Del Rey was wearing jeans, ballet flats, and a short red cardigan buttoned over a white tank top. Her long honey brown hair was in loose curls. She was with her husband, Jeremy Dufrene, whom she met in his home state of Louisiana, where he gives boat tours through the bayou for visitors to see alligators. (She went on one of his excursions in 2019; they reconnected several years later, and married in September 2024.) Like many people who work with large, dangerous beasts, Dufrene has a calm, strong presence. “When we met,” Del Rey told me later, “I realized pretty immediately that I loved him, but that it might get difficult because of what I was bringing to the table. Jeremy said, ‘I work with alligators—I have tough skin.’ And he is a man of his word. All the things that made me upset—and there were so many!—he would just listen and say, ‘You be you—and I’ll just love you more.’ ”
Their first year of married life has not been easy. The “pop goddess who marries an unknown alligator tour guide” story was too delicious for outlets like TMZ. “They flew in drones to watch us!” said Del Rey. “If I was him, I would have been nervous—my emotions were more overwhelming than usual, and my usual emotions can be quite overwhelming!” Del Rey laughed. “But Jeremy was fine. He said, ‘If you want, worry about yourself, but don’t worry about me!’ ”
Del Rey ordered avocado toast, and Dufrene ordered eggs. They had flown in from Louisiana, where they are living most of the time—aside from trips to Los Angeles, Del Rey’s adopted home. Her move to the rural South coincides with a pivot in her music. Del Rey is known for her evocative songwriting, depicting the loves, desires, and losses of characters that she’s either imagined or observed, mostly denizens of L.A. She is, at heart, complex and poetic—whether she’s describing her astrological sign (“I was born at 4 p.m. on June 21. I was told I was a Gemini, but, apparently, if you’re born after 4 p.m., you are a Cancer, and I do qualify: Like a crab, I carry my house on my back, and I’m a crybaby—there’s water in my life everywhere. But I identify with Gemini too—I think I have three sides! A lot is going on!”) or speaking about her favorite football team, the San Francisco 49ers (“They are gentle. I know it’s a violent sport, but they are gentle!”).
Around eight years ago, Del Rey started singing her version of well-known country songs—particularly Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man” and Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe.” “I was fascinated by Bobbie Gentry,” recalled Del Rey. “I think about her all the time. She worked for two years, had two huge hits, and then managed to truly disappear.” For a minute, Del Rey thought about releasing an album of covers called Country and Western, which would be her versions of classics about California (“I love ‘California Dreamin’ ’ and ‘California’ by Joni Mitchell!”) and country songs like “Luckenbach, Texas.” “The storytelling is there in both,” explained Del Rey. “And I’m always drawn to world-creating, especially in country music.”
Del Rey moved to Nashville part-time in 2023 to work with legendary country producer Luke Laird, in addition to her usual producer, Jack Antonoff, the three-time Grammy winner for Producer of the Year. Del Rey’s new album, Stove, will likely be released at the end of January. It was slated for last spring, but Del Rey decided to add six songs. “They were more autobiographical than I thought, and that took more time,” she said. “The majority of the album will have a country flair. Eight years ago, when I was looking to make a country record, no one else was thinking about country. Now everyone is going country! I’ve asked myself, Should I retire all my snakeskin boots? Should I put my cowboy hats in storage?”
Stylistically, Del Rey has created a singular country–meets–high fashion look. At her concerts at Stagecoach, the biggest West Coast festival for country music, and when she recently headlined two sold-out nights at Wembley Stadium, in London, she wore dresses with fitted bodices and swaying skirts. “I had a vintage picnic-type dress from the ’40s that I loved, and I showed it to Molly Dickson, my stylist,” explained Del Rey. “Her tailor, Sugar Ferrini, copied the dress in a sweet bluebell fabric. I was totally not expecting Sugar to become a designer, but I think she might now be one of my favorite designers. At Wembley, I wore a stunning Valentino in a champagne color—it has a sparkle and shimmer that I love. I felt like Cinderella at the ball. I would say that the Valentino defines my style exactly: elevated but understated. I never want to wear anything that is overwhelming—80,000 people can be overwhelming enough!”
Loewe dress.
Have you written any songs about your husband?
“Stars Fell on Alabama.” I open my show with that song—that’s it, so far. Jeremy is the most impactful person in my life. He’s quiet in public, but around me he talks all the time. It’s strange: Jeremy and I have what we call “parking-lot time.” We spend so much time in parking lots, just reading or talking in the car. Sometimes, in life, you think you’re the only one in the world who loves a particular thing, like sitting in an empty Macy’s or Home Depot parking lot. You might be really weird to some people, but then you find another soul who feels the same way.
How do you like the alligators?
I was nervous at first, but Louisiana has nicer alligators than Florida. Jeremy swims with the alligators! I swim in the bayou also, and the alligators are there, but I don’t swim alone.
Do you miss Los Angeles? You write so beautifully about L.A.
When I moved to L.A. from the East Coast, I didn’t know anyone who had been to California. I loved New York, but I bought a one-way ticket to L.A. and didn’t look back. I had to romanticize it, because I was enchanted by the landscape. I would get in my car and drive from Sunset and La Cienega down to the beach. I would stop at the 76 gas station in the Palisades that has now, sadly, burned down. I’d have Mexican hot chocolate at a food truck, and I’d visit my favorite magazine stand and study W! I got so many melodies from L.A.
At the W shoot, you were listening to the documentary Grey Gardens, about the eccentric Beale family. Does that film have special meaning for you?
Yes, that film calms me. I find the Beales so authentic. If I’m feeling nervous, I usually put on Don’t Look Back, the documentary about Bob Dylan. Or I’ll watch YouTube videos of storm chasers. If you search for “top 10 biggest tornadoes of all time,” you can see them all. I like the drama of a tornado, the intensity of big weather. I always study the sky—if I could transport the Louisiana sky to Los Angeles, I’d be in heaven.
Do you ever think about acting?
Yes, I’d love to be in a film. When recording, I’m a one-off taker on a song. But with my videos, I love to do a million takes. Of course, I love Quentin Tarantino. He and David Lynch have been the biggest influences on my work. But the majority of what I watch is not films. My favorites are shows on the Hallmark Channel. Hallmark movies are great. Going into 2018 and 2019, it was a bad time and I had Hallmark running on the TV 24 hours a day.
Do Hallmark films remind you of your upbringing in bucolic Lake Placid, New York?
A little bit. As a child, I was always singing. I was the littlest orphan in our local production of Annie, and the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I have to say that may have been more intimidating than performing at Wembley! Before I moved to L.A., I performed a lot in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. One of my first shows in L.A. was at the Troubadour. It felt very small—everyone seemed to be looking at my toes. I don’t think I painted them.
Are you more like a cat or a dog?
Definitely a cat. But a big, orange cat. I’m quick on my feet but very cuddly.
Would you ever write an autobiography?
Absolutely not. There have been too many personal things that I can’t talk about. Sometimes I think it’s a 50-50 split between people hating me and people respecting my work. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that, but, to be honest, thinking too much about that is a lose-lose situation. Now I try to be positive: I had a dream of a giant family and a happy life. I had to quiet the noise to find love. And I did.
Prada dress, earrings, and bag.
Hair by Guido for Zara Hair; makeup by Pat McGrath for Pat McGrath Labs; manicure by Jin Soon Choi for JINsoon Beauty at Home Agency.
Production credits throughout cover stories: Produced by PRODn; producers: Steven Dam, Wesley Torrance, Stephanie Ge, Mitch Baker; Steven Meisel Studio manager: Ruk Richards; Steven Meisel Studio art director: Paulie Browne; photo assistants: Jeremy Hall, John Griffith, Alex Hopkins, Jeremy Gould, Alex Johnstone; digital technician: Kevin Lavallade; retouching: Gloss Studio; fashion assistants: Caroline Hampton, Adrian Reyna, Raquel Castellanos; production assistants: Daniel Weiner, Aaron Pimentel, Noah Conboy, Torrance Hall, Sierra Sky, Sean English; hair colorist for Julia Garner: Lena Ott; manicure assistants: Christina Mallett, Elena Leger; tailor: Raul Zevallos at R-Zee Tailoring.
