Lana Del Rey was born to be a singer โ literally. The โSummertime Sadnessโ songstress stopped by On Air With Ryan Seacrest on Thursday, August 29, and took a trip down memory lane as well as revealed how her epic Sublime cover โDoin' Timeโ came about.ย
โI was singing before I was talking,โ the three-time Grammy nominee told Ryan. โI was singing like complete full songs by two I would say. โฆ Full songs, like, completely born singing. I didnโt think I was going to 100% sing sing for like a job, but I was singing to the point of annoyance and definitely in all the plays,โ Lana added. โLike, I was a little orphan in Annie when I was three;ย I actually got kicked out of Annie because I was waving. I was a happy orphan like waving to Grandma, like,ย waving to everyone.โ
Lanaโs journey to fame came almost as naturally, but not without hard work and recognition.
โIโd been posting little home made videos online and I had been writing some faster songs and then I just thought, โYou know what? Iโm going to write a ballad thatโs more true to myselfโ and that was โVideo Games,โ" she explained. "Me and my sister made a video for it at home and then The Weeknd, actually, Abel, posted it on his Tumblr like 11 days in a row and I was like, โOMG!'ย And then Fearne Cotton from Radio 1 in London saw it on his Tumblr and she gave me one play every day for a week.โ
Lana added that sheโd been meeting with numerous labels and performing around New York City for about seven years at the timeย when they finally came back to her.ย
โAfter Fearne played that song every day, they all called,โ Lana admitted. โLike, โNever mind! Never mind!ย Actually, singer-songwriting is awesomeโ โฆ but, I mean, I was so relieved,โ Lana added. โLike, finally I can make the record I want.โ
Fast-forward to 2019 and Lana's now chosen to cover iconic hits. The songstress, who is set to release sixth studio album Norman F--king Rockwell on August 30,ย explained thatย her Sublime cover "Doin' Time" came aboutย โsuper unexpected.โ
โInterscope, the label Iโm signed to, theyโre producing a movie about the life story of Sublime soย John, who runs the label, said that Bradley [Nowellโs] former wife had been talking about me [covering] โDoin' Time,โโ Lana shared. โAnd, also, funny enough, David Kahn, who produced that album, is the first producer I worked with 14 years ago,โ she added. โHe made my first record and I hadnโt heard from him in about 10 years and he sent me a long email โฆ so there were a couple of little things that came together.โ
Lana shared with Ryan that her first reaction was โI shouldnโt do itโ because itโs such an iconic jam, but after joining forces with mega producer Andrew Watt, who is behind songs includingย Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabelloโs โSeรฑorita,โ she was seriously impressed.ย
โHe was so quick โฆ and put together the whole track really fast and it was one of those things where I listened to it the next day and I was like, โThatโs actually pretty good!โ even though it was unexpected,โ she concluded.ย
Watch back the full video above to hear more, including what to expect at her forthcoming shows and be sure to download or stream Lana's sixth studio album Norman F--king Rockwell on Friday, August 30th.ย