Lana Del Rey “Redeems” Her Absence on the Priscilla Soundtrack With Somewhat Lackluster “Unchained Melody” Performance for Christmas at Graceland

Lana Del Rey’s love for Elvis Presley is, by now, well-established. Which is why so many were surprised to learn she wouldn’t be in some way participating in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla. Especially since the director outright asked her to (twice). Claiming the convenient stock excuse of “schedule conflicts,” Del Rey seemed to have no issue dragging herself to Graceland with her usual family-filled entourage. Apparently, only a direct line to Elvis himself could conjure her presence, and that was Riley Keough a.k.a. Elvis’ granddaughter and the new custodian/sole owner of the property in the wake of Lisa Marie’s death. To that end, “lineage” is definitely something Del Rey can get behind honoring (it’s a subject of particular consequence on Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, though she also mentions her “karmic lineage” on Blue Banisters). Accordingly, as a means to build anticipation for the Christmas at Graceland special, she posted a picture of her niece, Phoenix, running around with Riley’s daughter, Tupelo (yes, the same name as the small Mississippi town where Elvis was born). 

As though borrowing from her “How To Disappear” lyrics when she sang, “I’ve got a kid and two cats in the yard,” she stated of the photo, “Riley has been kind enough to let the kids run all around the yard.” Hmm…is it a “kindness,” really, to let kids play in a massive backyard? Evidently when you’re as legendary as Keough is by proxy. Del Rey’s caption of the photo also noted how seeing these two kids together felt “like nothing short of magic.” Maybe because now, Del Rey’s bond with Elvis and the rest of the Presleys is firmly cemented. There’s a connection forged between the next generation that makes it entirely possible that Del Rey will keep hanging out with Elvis’ progeny. After all, if she couldn’t live during the same time as the icon himself, then this will have to serve as the next best thing. 

So, too, does paying homage to him during the special, aired after the Christmas in Rockefeller Center tree-lighting one (a detail Del Rey was also sure to call out on her Instagram account, though failed to highlight Cher’s presence at the event…and yes, Cher also cameos [along with her contemporary, Dolly Parton] with an Elvis anecdote during Christmas at Graceland). After all, Christmas officially starts right after Thanksgiving these days, as there’s no time to waste in getting people into the “holiday” (read: buying) spirit. Del Rey wasn’t necessarily “of that bent” when she chose to sing The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody,” one of Elvis’ favorite songs to cover. And, considering Del Rey is something of a “cover queen” herself (hear: “The Other Woman,” “Once Upon a Dream,” “Doin’ Time,” “Season of the Witch,” “Blue Velvet,” “Summer Wine,” “Chelsea Hotel No. 2,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “For Free” and, most recently, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”—the list truly does go on), the selection made sense.

And so did going down to Graceland a few days early to get “into character,” so to speak (though Del Rey will tell you, “Never had a persona. Never needed one. Never will”). To absorb some of that “mystical Elvis energy” (including snapping a touristy photo in front of Graceland’s National Register of Historical Places sign) in time to sing for the show, commenting, “…you know you can count on me to more than likely have the somber [performance], so I’ve got you covered with that.” For someone who once declared, “Elvis is my daddy,” perhaps it’s fair to say she’s in tune with the underlying sadness within Elvis and many of his songs, thus the “somber” song choice. One that is introduced (second in the lineup after Lainey Wilson’s hoedown interpretation of “Santa Claus is Back in Town”) by none other than Keough herself as she invites the cameras in through the front door while saying, “Welcome to Graceland.” She then guides viewers through the dining room and kitchen as she gushes with a faintly Drew Barrymore lilt (and look, for that matter), “It’s so special for us to have music back in the house and I’m so excited to introduce this beautiful performance by Lana Del Rey.” The camera whip pans to the right to show the singer in question, wearing a dress fans recognized from her Norman Fucking Rockwell! Tour days. A dress that is, of course, appropriately “60s.” And so is her hairstyle and eyeliner, clearly made to give a nod to the woman whose biopic she wouldn’t contribute a song to. 

Before diving into her cover, Del Rey remarks, “We particularly like his performance at Rapid City, so we’re gonna channel that and we hope everybody has a really great Christmas.” Of course, while condemnations about Del Rey’s own “fat period” have been ongoing of late, it would be impossible for her to truly channel the agony of that Rapid City performance in June 1977, just a couple of months before Elvis would die. Breathing heavily and drenched in sweat, it was plain to see that years of these live performances (paired with a steady and lethal combination of drugs) had taken their toll. And yes, he didn’t seem to care how he looked or felt once he got on that stage and was revived by the audience’s adulation. So it was that he performed “Unchained Melody” while playing a piano riddled with Coke cups (filled with water or Gatorade, it’s been said) as someone else held the microphone up to his mouth. And from the moment he began to sing, it was as though all perception of his physical appearance melted away while his voice, rich and dreamy as ever, transported the audience to another place. 

The same can’t quite be said of what Del Rey does with the cover while performing it among the safety of a pre-taped show with no live audience. She never seems to reach that moment of truly belting it out with the pain and agony Elvis so readily conveys. Indeed, her performance is soft, controlled…subdued. Everything Elvis’ cover of “Unchained Melody” is not. There are even times when her declaration of “I need your love” sounds more like a question than an earnest insistence. What’s more, her decision to use a trio of backup singers for the performance is not in keeping with Elvis’ stripped-back rendition in Rapid City. Perhaps the closest she gets to “channeling Elvis” is by employing an all-Black supporting band (namely, the piano player and backup singers) for the song. While Elvis grafted from Black culture for his music, Del Rey lately seems to be relying on Black talent to “jazz up” her performances, live or otherwise. A glaring example of this occurred on “The Grants,” the opening song for Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Armed with a choir of Black women to chant, “I’m gonna take mine of you with me,” Del Rey returns to the church-y, gospel aura of her early life. Rooted in Roman Catholicism and all the devotion (mixed with opulence) that entails. Elvis had his own love of gospel a.k.a. “church” music thanks to being a Southern Baptist. A religion with, yes, decidedly more “Blackness” to it than Catholicism. 

Alas, Del Rey leaning into that form of Blackness doesn’t manage to translate “Unchained Melody” into the mimicking tour de force she hoped it would be for this Christmas special. Nor does her “intimate conversation” with Keough about what their family traditions are for Christmas (she being the only performer bestowed with that kind of overt preferential treatment) do much to inspire awe. Though, at the very least, “Unchained Melody” is not as much of a botched attempt as Alanis Morissette singing “Last Christmas” in front of Elvis’ private plane, the Lisa Marie. A backdrop that did, however, offer more drama and production value to Morissette’s performance than Del Rey’s.