Lana Del Rey Calls Early Claims About Father Being a Millionaire 'Tabloid-Psycho Untrue' (original) (raw)

Lana Del Rey does not "love" some of the rumors that have followed her throughout her career.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the "Ride" singer, 38, addresses rumors of her "wealth" and a 2012 story in The Guardian that referred to her father as a millionaire, which she denies.

“It’s crazy if you say something that’s tabloid-psycho untrue about me but I can’t get a word in? Congratulations! You’re going to ruin how people listen to my music," Del Rey said of how claims like that affected her to The Sunday Times.

She added: "I don’t need positive feedback. But you cannot just make things up.”

Lana Del Rey in Inglewood in March 2023.

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

The pop star also addressed claims of growing up rich in October in a since-deleted Instagram post.

“I want to make this video really short and sweet, just because the conversation keeps coming up about me coming from money and my family having money…” she began the video.

Referencing her hometown of Lake Placid, New York, she said it was “not a wealthy town” and said she was only able to go to a private boarding school because of “financial aid” that was offered to her because her uncle was an administrative employee.

Del Rey also claimed she struggled in school because the other students knew she didn't come from money and was given the nickname “White trash from Lake Placid.”

The singer also recalled her parents regularly arguing about money and her father, Rob Grant, working as a woodworker to keep them afloat. She claimed his financial success came much later after he joined an internet domain developer business.

According to Del Rey, it wasn't until she was 26 that — after her music career took off — that she finally had some semblance of wealth. She also explained that when she performed on Saturday Night Live in 2012, she was living in a hostel in New York.

In the comments of the now-deleted post, Del Rey said that the concept of Lake Placid and wealth is "a new phenomena."

“We had absolutely no money… that’s a little story the news loved to assign to me,” she wrote in one comment from the now-deleted Instagram post. “I grew up in a mountain town in a little house, and we struggled as much as everybody else in the town of 900, there is no other truth than that… there are people who are well-known, who grew up rich — I’m not one of them."

Lana Del Rey performs on 'Saturday Night Live' in 2012.

Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

Elsewhere in the interview, Del Rey opened up about the possibility of having a family, saying "there is more to explore" in her life.

“That’s why God didn’t give me children yet,” Del Rey told the publication. “Because there is more to explore. I know people who’ve tested every water. It’s burnt them, like Icarus. But I’m willing to go there.”

The musician added that she eventually sees herself becoming a mom, adding, “I see it coming for me. We’ll see. We’ll see what melts the wings.”