Lana Del Rey has been teasing her country pivot for a long time. As long as a summer’s day on a gator boat tour, as long as a rattlesnake who just got a spinal adjustment, as long as rap sheet. On April 11, Lana dropped the first official single for The Right Person Will Stay. How big of a departure will the album be for the already yeehaw-inflected Del Rey? Will her song with Quavo be on there? How many covers of songs from the country and western canon will be included? Here’s everything we know about The Right Person Will Stay.
So long, Lasso
In 2024, Lana Del Rey said her next album would be the hella country-fried Lasso. “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,” she said at the Billboard and NMPA Songwriter Awards. “That’s why Jack [Antonoff] has followed me to Muscle Shoals, Nashville, Mississippi, over the last four years.” At the time, Del Rey said the album would be called Lasso, and would drop that September.
That summer, Lana released her collab with Quavo, “Tough.” The song blended country with Lana’s previous domain of hip-hop/folk/pop. More slashes, we say! Lana also started living the life of a country song, marrying gator boat tour captain Jeremy Dufrene. Multiphyphenate until Lana Del Rey encompasses all forms of music. Lasso seemed a go. But it was actually a no.
In November of 2024, a few months past Lasso’s stated release date, Lana Del Rey announced her next album would be titled The Right Person Will Stay, and would actually drop May 2025.
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Come through, “Henry, come on”
Lana dropped her latest single, “Henry, come on” April 11. The single cover was giving bridal portrait, which makes sense given that Del Rey is a recent bride. The song builds into a rock-country warmth, something in the realm of “Shallow” plus Nashville sound strings. And a harp? Sure, why not.
What other songs could appear on The Right Person Will Stay? In the would-be lead-up to Lasso, LDR covered a lot of country standards. Lana covered “Stand by Your Man,” “Unchained Melody,” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in that period. Will any of them make it to the album? Only Jack Antonoff knows.
When will The Right Person hit the shelves?
The Right Person Will Stay will drop May 21, at the very end of Taurus season. Classic cusper behavior, Lana.
