LANA DEL REY

LANA DEL REY - SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL AWARD

At a time when all too many music careers burn brightly but briefly, it takes a rare talent to still be growing – both creatively and commercially – almost 20 years into their career.

But that’s exactly where Lana Del Rey finds herself in 2024. Her latest album, the highly acclaimed Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, was nominated for the Album Of The Year Grammy and became her sixth number one album in the UK.

Indeed, Del Rey has enjoyed star status in Britain ever since Born To Die hit the top slot back in 2012, and last year she headlined her biggest ever live show at the BST Hyde Park festival, across the road from today’s Ivors venue, putting in a mesmerising performance.

That makes her the ideal recipient for this award, which also serves as fitting acknowledgement of a songwriting career that manages to have both an ultra-modern appeal – Del Rey songs are huge on TikTok – and to throw back to the days when the idea of albums as full artistic statements ruled the roost.

Del Rey, like many of the greatest artists, is constantly developing her sound, but always remains demonstrably herself. And it’s an approach that has thrown up classic song after classic song; from her gloriously hazy 2011 breakthrough hit, Video Games, to last year’s complex, Grammy-nominated A&W, via the intoxicating likes of Summertime Sadness, Young And Beautiful, Ultraviolence, White Dress and many, many more.

No wonder she’s in demand to work with the greatest artists on the planet; collaborating with everyone from Taylor Swift to The Weeknd.

And no wonder, despite all the amazing songs and glittering accolades she’s collected along the way, the most mind-blowing Lana Del Rey project is always likely to be whatever she does next.