Lana Del Rey Has Resurrected — and So Has Speculation About Her Weight

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Lana Del Rey proclaimed her resurrection, set to take place at Coachella’s headlining slot this weekend—via roadside billboard. In script evoking Evangelist warnings of an forthcoming apocalyptic rapture, the billboard alluded to her death just 12 years ago, after being “crucified” for her Saturday Night Live performance in 2012. At Coachella this weekend, Lana would rise again.

Her headlining performance kicked off with the roar of engines, Del Rey on the back of a motorcycle as the “unofficial” track “Jealous Girl” played for a horde of adoring fans.

But elsewhere on the internet, viewers at home were seemingly more concerned with Del Rey’s slim appearance, at turns lauding her new stage look, at turns speculating about the reasons behind her apparent weight loss. “The ozempic worked we won,” a Lana Del Rey stan account posted to X.

One person even mused aloud that her weight loss may have something to do with a secret weightlifting regimen, entailing alternatively bulking up and cutting weight. “I was one of the only people who believed in the Lana Del Rey extended bulk and cut project. everyone was giving her shit but I knew exactly what was going on. all respect to her traditional fans, women and gay guys, but you guys blew this call while I nailed it.”

Another shared, “do yall ever get tired of being fatphobic weirdos or do you have literally *nothing* better to do with ur time then comment on ppls bodies??”

TikTok comments under videos of her performance were flooded with “praise” for the singer’s new look as well as lamenting they could not get their hands on Ozempic. The connection being drawn in this speculation is a dangerous one—that her appearance is due to medical intervention, that thinness is an inherent positive change in her appearance, and that both of these ideas are desirable — despite Del Rey having done nothing but simply exist and perform her art in public.

Early in the set, the messiah of sad girl music noted that she last graced the Coachella stage “exactly 10 years ago to the day” before whispering to the crowd, “we’re still doing it.” And that she is, a decade and nine studio albums later, the feat of illusion her persona exudes is still intact, layers of meaning stacked on top of one another like so many playing cards placed just so. Still, while the aesthetics of her musical projects are woven into the fabric of her art, her personhood, her body, is not up for dissection. Especially for an artist whose analysis of contemporary conservative, traditional mores is often lost or misunderstood.

Following online rumors that Billie Elish would be making a guest appearance during Del Rey’s set, the singers joined together for a duet of “Ocean Eyes” and “Video Games.” Basking in each other’s presence, Eilish, speaking to her hero, Del Rey enjoying her protege. “Yep, that’s the voice of your generation, the voice of our generation,” Del Rey said. Eilish replied, “This is the reason for half you b—-es existence, including mine.” When considering the landscape of current pop music, Eilish isn’t wrong.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue