When Taylor Swift released her tenth album, Midnights, in October 2022, fans were elated to hear that she would be collaborating with Indie rock star Lana Del Rey. Swift announced the collaboration on Oct. 7 during one of her Midnights Mayhem videos on social media. The singer shared that Lana Del Rey would be joining her in the fourth track on her new album, “Snow On The Beach.”
Fans were ecstatic that the two stars would be teaming up for the first time. Although the collaboration was a surprise, both Swift and Del Rey work with Jack Antonoff, so a song together made sense. However, many fans expressed disappointment when the track was first released.
“Snow On The Beach” was the only collaboration featured on Midnights, so many fans expressed disappointment when Del Rey did not have her own verse — in fact, the singer could only be heard singing background vocals.
Swift was soon being chastised by fans who pointed out her pattern of collaborating with artists who did not get to sing a verse when they were featured in her music. Her collaborations with other female artists, in particular, were under criticism by fans, as this is not the first time Swift has featured a female singer just to only hear them in the background of her music. Swift and her team never gave any public statement to the criticism at the time.
However, in February 2023, we learned that Swift originally wanted Del Rey to sing more in their collaboration. Del Rey recently shared with Billboard that she had “no idea” that she was the only featured artist on Midnights. The singer stated that she was more focused on the production of the song than the lyrics, and feels like she added to the production of “Snow On The Beach.”
“Had I known, I would have sung the entire second verse like she wanted,” the 37-year-old singer revealed, contradicting the rumor that Swift didn’t want Del Rey singing lead vocals on the song.
Swift has not commented on the situation, but has been very clear about her love for Del Rey since announcing their collaboration. In a video shared on Swift’s Instagram, she said, “The fact that I get to exist at the same time as her is an honor and a privilege and the fact that she would be so generous as to collaborate with us on this song is something I’m gonna be grateful for for life.”
Swift described “Snow On The Beach” as a song about “falling in love with someone at the same time they are falling in love with you.” It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.