Lana Del Rey has hit out at her ex-tour manager after headlining Coachella 2024, while also revealing she had only recovered from laryngitis “a few hours” beforehand.
The singer took the top slot on the festival’s main stage on Friday night (April 12), being joined by guests Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste and Jack Antonoff.
And now, in a lengthy social media post, Del Rey has alleged that her previous tour manager “quit for no reason” just 37 days before the set, after being “butt hurt” that she had been able to acquire a motorcade of 10 motorcycles for her viral entrance to the stage.
During a list of tributes to the team behind organising the set, Del Rey takes a moment to thank “Emily for stepping up as tour manager when Pete quit for no reason after 15 years because he was butt hurt that I got 10 comped bikes for free from Wally and randomly decided he was more of a stage designer than a tour manager”.
Del Rey continued: “Never got a phone call probably never will. Still grateful for the 15 years though. No worries – 37 days was more than enough time to put together an entire headlining set all by ourselves. Not stressful at all. Way to go Emily you fucking killed it with grace.”
In the same post, Del Rey also revealed that she had been suffering from laryngitis ahead of the show, even saying that it only cleared in the hours leading up to her taking the stage.
She thanked her band “for just killing it and spending months in Sylmar in a 40° warehouse to the point but it was so cold that I caught laryngitis that literally left just a few hours before I hit the stage because Tessa DiPietro spent two hours lifting that cough remotely through her body intuitive skills just minutes before showtime”.
In a four-star review of Lana’s Coachella set, NME wrote: “Some festival-goers and critics have pointed to Del Rey as an “odd” choice of headliner – someone not exactly known for putting in energetic, flashy performances. Tonight, unswayed by those opinions, she sticks to what is true to her and instead focuses on something artful rather than gimmicky.”
Del Rey brought out Billie Eilish to perform a duet of ‘Video Games’ and ‘Ocean Eyes’ during the set, as well as Jon Batiste to perform ‘Candy Necklace’, and Jack Antonoff to play piano for ‘Hope Is A Dangerous Thing For A Woman Like Me To Have – But I Have It’.
Read NME’s overall review of Coachella 2024 here, including Doja Cat’s five-star headline performance, a breakout set from Chappell Roan, and a disgruntled Damon Albarn.
