Posted March 28, 20231 yr Lana Del Rey's Official Top 40 biggest songs on the UK's Official Chart 28 March 2023 | By George Griffiths There is only one Lana Del Rey. Across a career that has now spanned a decade and included nine generation-defining major label studio albums, Lana has morphed from Born To Die's swaggering femme fatale, to Ultraviolence's bruised, wandering traveler, using each new project to slowly strip away the mythos and allure of her alter-ego. If her new album, Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. wasn't evidence enough, Lana has used her time in the spotlight to slowly strip away the excesses of her production and songwriting, arriving at something approaching her real self - Elizabeth Grant. With Ocean Blvd. now approaching Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart (it would be Lana's sixth Number 1 album - see her biggest-ever LPs in the UK here) she's made her most personal and self-analytical body of work yet, analysing her own familial ties on opening track The Grants and starting to wonder what her own legacy will be on the title track. Lana Del Rey has always contained multitudes, and it takes just one look at her biggest songs in the UK to believe that - from the braggadocios raps of Off To The Races (21), the tender yet forceful rejection of a man who refuses to see her as anything but a muse on Norman F*cking Rockwell! (20) or her epic, Steinbeck-esque Americana road-trip on Ride (12), Lana has never, ever been content to stay in one lane. She is an ever evolving artist. Below, we've revealed just how evolved; discover her Top 10 biggest songs to ever hit the Official Charts below, and then dive into the Top 40 in full below. 10. National Anthem Released: 2012 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 92 Total UK chart sales: 320,000 Money is the anthem, god you're so handsome. On Lana's big 2012 summer single (the more propulsive demo version is the biggest single she never released), she leaned into the enigmatic allure of celebrity for the first time; spinning a tale of scandalous Page Six romance told against the flash of paparazzo cameras and devotion to the American flag. Its music video, casting Lana as the Jackie to A$AP Rocky's JFK, is perhaps the ultimate distillation of her first album persona; corrupted, beautiful and totally dedicated to her man. 9. Stargirl Interlude (with The Weeknd) Released: 2016 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 73 Total UK chart sales: 336,000 Despite being less than 2 minutes long, Stargirl Interlude has become one of Lana's most popular tracks in recent years, thanks to TikTok. With the recent success of The Weeknd adding Ariana Grande into a remix of Starboy single Die For You, it doesn't seem a stretch to imagine a fuller version of Stargirl arriving at some point. 8. Don't Call Me Angel (with Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus) Released: 2019 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 2 Total UK chart sales: 357,000 While it was perhaps surprising to see Lana team up with Ariana and Miley on this Max Martin cut - she had been steadily dipping her toe into more commercial chart prospects for a while, hooking up with both Martin and Benny Blanco on tracks for Lust For Life - the biggest shock on Don't Call Me Angel is how the song stops in its tracks to accommodate her, proving that even when she was masquerading as a Big Pop Girl (Don't Call Me Angel is still Lana's highest-peaking song in the UK), Lana Del Rey will always be Lana Del Rey. 7. Doin' Time Released: 2019 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 42 Total UK chart sales: 372,000 A cover of a track originally released by ska-pop band Sublime, Doin' Time is by far the biggest single to come from Lana's confident and assured Norman F**king Rockwell! album, which properly established her as her generation's greatest living songwriter (ironic, then, that Doin' Time is a cover). 6. West Coast Released: 2014 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 21 Total UK chart sales: 394,000 Ultraviolence is Lana's magnum opus, and bruised and brilliant sophomore records that abandons the aggressively enshrined aesthetic of Born To Die and, track by track, slowly strips the Lana Del Rey character away. It's lead track, West Coast, is most indicative of this; helping Lana set fire to her old persona and leave New York, setting out on the open road. 5. Blue Jeans Released: 2011 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 32 Total UK chart sales: 505,000 With hindsight, it's easy to see just how Born To Die and its singles helped to influence the ebb, flow and feel of pop music for the next decade - but Blue Jeans is a succinct reminder of the sometimes under-played effect hip-hop played on Lana's early career. Indeed, her flow, bars and cadence have been just an influential on mumble-rap and SoundCloud-core rappers as they have pop stars like Halsey, Billie Eilish and Selena Gomez. 4. Born To Die Released: 2012 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 9 Total UK chart sales: 757,000 One criticism levied against Lana early in her career was that she was too overly morose. And, yeah, we have to give it to her - Born To Die isn't what you'd listen to for a little pick me up. But fresh off the success of Video Games, Born To Die burnt a very depressing trail back into the UK Top 10, establishing Lana as one of the biggest breakout stars of her time. 3. Young and Beautiful Released: 2013 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 23 Total UK chart sales: 813,000 A swooning orchestral masterstroke, Young and Beautiful was originally meant for Lana's Paradise EP, but found its home on the original soundtrack for Baz Luhrmann's adaption of the Great Gatsby. And so it should; its focus on the trap of materialism perfectly melds to the film's themes of lost innocence in a world that's obsessed with image and status, and how they will both, inevitably, fade. 2. Video Games Released: 2011 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 9 Total UK chart sales: 1.4 million Quite simply one of the most brilliant and influential debut singles of the 21st century, Lana Del Rey entered the culture as a fully-formed being, with a definitive point of view. The fact that it was also a chart success here - Number 9 peak and over 92 million streams to date - is a testament to Lana reading the temperature of pop music in the early 10s and setting out defy odds and subvert expectations, something she still does to this day. 1. Summertime Sadness (Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais) Released: 2012 Official Singles Chart peak: Number 4 Total UK chart sales: 2 million In its original form, Summertime Sadness is evocative and stirring. Its big rave-up remix courtesy of Cedric Gervais certainly sands down its edges (just take the tracks Sapphic music video, cut up and edited out of all meaning) but was an unqualified success. Up until Don't Call Me Angel, it was Lana's highest-peaking single in the UK, and with over 2 million total UK chart sales and a staggering 158 million streams, it diluted Lana's image and message for the masses brilliantly. The story goes that Lana wasn't even aware of the remix's existence until she heard it on the radio one day. For an artist who has never willingly forsaken her artistry for commercial gain, you can certainly believe it. Lana Del Rey's Official Top 40 biggest songs in the UK POS TITLE ARTIST PEAK 1 SUMMERTIME SADNESS LANA DEL REY VS CEDRIC GERVAIS 4 2 VIDEO GAMES LANA DEL REY 9 3 YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL LANA DEL REY 23 4 BORN TO DIE LANA DEL REY 9 5 BLUE JEANS LANA DEL REY 32 6 WEST COAST LANA DEL REY 21 7 DOIN' TIME LANA DEL REY 42 8 DON'T CALL ME ANGEL (CHARLIE'S ANGELS) GRAND/CYRUS/LANA DEL REY 2 9 STARGIRL INTERLUDE THE WEEKND FT LANA DEL REY 73 10 NATIONAL ANTHEM LANA DEL REY 92 11 LOVE LANA DEL REY 41 12 RIDE LANA DEL REY 32 13 BROOKLYN BABY LANA DEL REY 86 14 LUST FOR LIFE LANA DEL REY FT THE WEEKND 38 15 DARK PARADISE LANA DEL REY N/A 16 SNOW ON THE BEACH TAYLOR SWIFT FT LANA DEL REY 4 17 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW LANA DEL REY N/A 18 RADIO LANA DEL REY N/A 19 HIGH BY THE BEACH LANA DEL REY 60 20 NORMAN F**KING ROCKWELL! LANA DEL REY 44 21 OFF TO THE RACES LANA DEL REY N/A 22 MARINERS APARTMENT COMPLEX LANA DEL REY 79 23 ULTRAVIOLENCE LANA DEL REY N/A 24 ONCE UPON A DREAM LANA DEL REY 60 25 GODS & MONSTERS LANA DEL REY 39 26 CINNAMON GIRL LANA DEL REY N/A 27 HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY LANA DEL REY N/A 28 PRISONER THE WEEKND FT LANA DEL REY 78 29 F**K IT I LOVE YOU LANA DEL REY 59 30 VENICE BITCH LANA DEL REY N/A 31 CARMEN LANA DEL REY N/A 32 CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB LANA DEL REY 58 33 THIS IS WHAT MAKES US GIRLS LANA DEL REY N/A 34 HOPE IS A DANGEROUS THING FOR A WOMAN LANA DEL REY 99 35 CHERRY LANA DEL REY N/A 36 COLA LANA DEL REY N/A 37 SUMMER BUMMER LANA DEL REY/ASAP ROCKY/CARTI 81 38 SHADES OF COOL LANA DEL REY N/A 39 MILLION DOLLAR MAN LANA DEL REY N/A 40 PRETTY WHEN YOU CRY LANA DEL REY N/A ©2023 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/l...l-chart__19685/
March 28, 20231 yr I'm somewhat surprised by 'Young & Beautiful', it doesn't feel anywhere near that big to me and I always forget it exists. Fantastic song though!
March 28, 20231 yr It seems the OCC have changed the credit of Summertime Sadness back to Cedric Gervais again?
March 28, 20231 yr It seems the OCC have changed the credit of Summertime Sadness back to Cedric Gervais again? probably because the remix (presumably) has more lifetime 'sales' than the original, but when the original version went viral on TikTok last year, the label must have specially requested Lana to be credited solo in the chart when the song got a manual reset. it would be interesting to see the split anyhow, the original I expect would probably have sold enough to be top five here in its own right by now as that has overtook the remix in popularity in recent times.
March 29, 20231 yr Author Lana Del Rey's biggest albums on the UK's Official Chart POS TITLE PEAK 1 BORN TO DIE 1 1.4m 2 ULTRAVIOLENCE 1 256k 3 NORMAN FU**KING ROCKWELL 1 4 LUST FOR LIFE 1 5 HONEYMOON 2 6 CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB 1 7 BLUE BANISTERS 2 ©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. Pretty good going for there to be an increase in sales between her third, fourth and fifth albums despite the decline in the album market.
March 29, 20231 yr The original Summertime Sadness has 825m Spotify streams (compared to 640m for Video Games) so I agree it would probably be top 5 in its own right, possibly top 3. Great to see NFR! as her third biggest album and several of its tracks in her top 40 songs, although my favourite, 'The Greatest' isn't there.
March 29, 20231 yr I'm somewhat surprised by 'Young & Beautiful', it doesn't feel anywhere near that big to me and I always forget it exists. Fantastic song though! It's probably the song I've heard most of Lana. I used to hear it all the time back when it was released and it felt bigger than its peak. Stunning song and glad to see it so high on her list! I believe the original version is her highest streamed song on spotify ("Summertime Sadness" beats it when combined).
March 29, 20231 yr Of all her tracks I have heard I only really love 'West Coast' - it's a bit like PJ Harvey, one of my favourite artists of all time, very menacing and uncommercial but with a hypnotic hook. I would put it in one of my top 10 singles of last decade in fact. But sounds very alternative and atypical of her usual torch songs - is that right? Are there any other of her tracks like that? should check out more of her stuff when I have time as she has rave reviews especially here. Edited March 29, 20231 yr by Smint
March 30, 20231 yr But sounds very alternative and atypical of her usual torch songs - is that right? Are there any other of her tracks like that? I suggest you start from Ultraviolence - the album that West Coast is taken from. It's absolutely incredible. The title track, Old Money, Shades of Cool, Brooklyn Baby & Sad Girl are some of the highlights, IMO. :wub:
March 30, 20231 yr Lana Del Rey's biggest albums on the UK's Official Chart POS TITLE PEAK 1 BORN TO DIE 1 1.4m 2 ULTRAVIOLENCE 1 256k 3 NORMAN FU**KING ROCKWELL 1 4 LUST FOR LIFE 1 5 HONEYMOON 2 6 CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB 1 7 BLUE BANISTERS 2 ©2021 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved. Pretty good going for there to be an increase in sales between her third, fourth and fifth albums despite the decline in the album market. The UV total is wrong, it went platinum last year. It’s on around 320k
March 30, 20231 yr Thats the last figures I can find for Lana's albums Born to Die 1,403k Ultraviolence 300k Honeymoon 140k Lust for Life 134k Norman F*cking Rockwell! 137k Chemtrails Over The Country Club 68k Blue Banisters 60k
March 31, 20231 yr I’m guessing they’ve combined the remix of Young & Beautiful with the original?I think Australia is the only place where the 'Young And Beautiful' remix was a hit! It only has 22 million Spotify plays (compared to 834 million for the original).
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