Reading & Leeds music festival issues apology for cutting Lana Del Rey's performance short after fans' backlash

Reading & Leeds Music Festival issued an apology for unexpectedly cutting Lana Del Rey's headline performance short. On Saturday, August 24, 2024, the singer's microphone turned off before she could finish her set, and fireworks began. Del Rey spent the last five minutes of her stage time watching the fireworks display.

The U.K. festival, which ran from August 21 through August 25, addressed the happening in an Instagram story shared on Sunday, stating:

"Due to an error by the Reading production team we accidentally cut Lana Del Rey’s incredible set short by 5 mins, we apologise unreservedly to Lana and her fans."

Per concertgoers, the Born to Die hitmaker was about to sing Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have – But I Have It from her 2019 album Norman F*cking Rockwell! when the sound went off.

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Lana Del Rey's show at the Reading & Leeds festival marked the end of her current tour

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the Reading & Leeds festival has been plagued by bad weather. Even Lana's Reading show was delayed by about 15 minutes; however, the reason remains unconfirmed.

In her review for NME, Rhian Daly added that when Lana was on stage, concertgoers couldn't hear her sing over the pounding techno beats happening simultaneously. She wrote:

"Even if you position yourself directly under a speaker – or are onstage, it turns out – Sonny Fodera’s house beats are still frustratingly audible."

At one point, the singer reportedly asked the crowd:

"Can you hear me through the techno?"

She took to the stage for the Leeds portion of the festival at Bramham Park on Sunday.

Lana Del Rey's performance at the festival marks the end of her tour in support of her ninth studio album. Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.?The project was a commercial and critical success, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. It received nominations for Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.

Earlier this year, the singer announced that her next album, Lasso, would be released in September. The project is her first country-themed album. Talking to Vogue in a recent interview, Del Rey elaborated on how different it will be from her other work, stating:

"All my albums are somewhat rooted in Americana, unless it’s an album like Honeymoon which has a jazz flair, so I don’t think it will be a heavy departure. If anything, it will just be a little lighter lyrically, and more pointed in a classic country, American, or Southern Gothic production—which again, so many of my songs already are."

This is not the first time Lana Del Rey arrived late to her show. Last year, she arrived 30 minutes late to her performance at the Glastonbury festival. A furious crowd booed the crooner when she eventually got on stage. At the time, she apologized to the crowd, adding the delay was because "(her) hair takes so long."

Del Rey has not publicly reacted to her set getting cut off or the apology issued by the festival organizers at the time of writing this article.