Lana Del Ray Confirms “Majority” Of New Album Will Be Country – “When I Was Looking To Make A Country Record, No One Else Was Thinking About Country”

In an age where some of the biggest stars in pop are going country, highlighted of course by Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion and Beyonce’s COWBOY CARTER last year, there’s been one artist that has seemingly been teasing her crossover into the genre for years. That artist is none other than Lana Del Ray.

Del Ray, the 11x Grammy nominee, has made a name for herself in the alt-pop scene with massive records such as 2011’s Born to Die and its follow-up, Ultraviolence, in 2014. Falling somewhere in between indie, pop and alt-pop, all with an Americana aesthetic visually, she’s been inching her way into the country scene over the past years.

Back in 2023, she began her slow venture into the genre. In addition to her incredibly unique, piano-backed cover of John Denver’s classic, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (which is quite good, I might add), she began making appearances in Nashville. Most famously, she covered Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” during a surprise appearance at Robert’s Western World in Nashville that September.

In February 2024 at the Grammy Awards, she said that her 10th album, “Lasso,” would be a country record produced by Jack Antonoff (famous for being Taylor Swift’s producer). In the interview, she cited the industry’s push towards country music as her main inspiration:

“If you can’t already tell by our award winners and our performers, the music business is going country. We’re going country. It’s happening. That’s why Jack has followed me to Muscle Shoals, Nashville, Mississippi, over the last four years.”

However, that album would later be delayed in November of 2024 and renamed to The Right Person Will Stay, which was slated for a May 21, 2025.

Obviously, The Right Person Will Stay was never released. However, we have a new update from the “Summertime Sadness” singer that confirms her country album is, in fact, coming.

In a recent interview with W Magazine, a style magazine which serves as a sister publication to Women’s Wear Daily, Del Ray opened up about her new marriage with Jeremy Dufrane, living in Louisiana and, of course, her upcoming album.

In the interview, Del Ray expressed her affinity for the storytelling present in country music, citing tracks such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings’ “Luckenbach, Texas” and Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” as well as Joni Mitchell’s “California” and “California Dreamin'” as some of her favorites:

“The storytelling is there in both. And I’m always drawn to world-creating in country music.”

As reported by W Magazine, her new country album will be titled Stove and will “likely be released at the end of January 2026.” Del Ray explained that the record was delayed due to the addition of six autobiographical songs:

“They were more autobiographical than I thought, and that took more time.”

Del Ray also confirmed that Stove will be co-produced with the legendary Luke Laird, along with Antonoff. In case you’re unaware of Laird’s prominence in Nashville over the years, he’s written over 20 #1 hits and has written for the likes of Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Jon Pardi, Miranda Lambert, Morgan Wallen and more. Additionally, he produced Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning Same Trailer, Different Park, in 2013.

Discussing the record itself, she noted that a “majority” of the album will have a country flair, adding that she’s been wanting to make a country album for the past eight years when “no one else” was thinking about the genre:

“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?”

Overall, only time will tell how Del Ray’s venture into the genre will ultimately be. With that being said, however, I have more faith in her compared to most pop stars who have tried to their hand at country music. It’s clear she has knowledge and respect for the genre due to her past performances of classics like “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Stand By Your Man,” and her voice suits the genre. It might be an unpopular opinion, but I’m totally here for it.

While you’re here, check out her cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads:”

The post Lana Del Ray Confirms “Majority” Of New Album Will Be Country – “When I Was Looking To Make A Country Record, No One Else Was Thinking About Country” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.