Lana Del Rey defends decision to play Israel show
Lana Del Rey has faced a lot of (mostly left wing) criticism after announcing she’ll play the Meteor Festival in Tel Aviv. Del Rey has now issued a statement saying she signed onto the show with the intention “that it would be performed for the kids there and my plan was for it to be done with a loving energy with a thematic emphasis on peace.”
The artist stresses that the decision was not intended to be a political statement, “but we are musicians and we’ve dedicated our lives to being on the road.”
Meteor Festival takes place in Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan, Israel on 6-8 September, with Del Rey set to perform alongside musicians such as ASAP Ferg, Flying Lotus, Pusha T, and Of Montreal.
Other bands who played Israel in the past are Depeche Mode, Madonna, Radiohead and many more proving that music should not be abused to go politically overboard and punish fans just for living in a certain country.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
