Elton John & Lana Del Rey Discuss Her Highly Criticized 2012 'SNL' Performance

Elton John and Lana Del Rey are on the cover of Rolling Stone‘s latest issue, out on newsstands on November 5.

Here’s what the musicians had to say…

Elton John, on her widely panned 2012 SNL performance: “You came through that awful thing in that Saturday Night Live [in 2012]. Which was so distressing for someone like me to see someone so crucified. I’ve watched it, and it wasn’t that bad!”

Lana Del Rey: “It wasn’t terrible!”

Elton John: “It wasn’t terrible at all. I don’t know what the agenda was there, but where was the #MeToo movement there? [...] That’s the first time I ever talked to you. I rang you up and said, ‘Listen, I just want to offer my help. I know you’re sober and everything, but just don’t take any notice of these people.’ Most people, that would have flattened them forever. It was an outrageous assault.”

Elton John on how Lana Del Rey’s SNL performance compared to Ashlee Simpson’s infamous SNL gaffe: “You recovered from that incredible shellacking. I’m sure it gave you a lot of trauma. But it also gave you incredible backbone. And I didn’t think it was a major fuck-up. I saw Ashlee Simpson and, yeah, that’s a major fuck-up. That’s funny. Not to her it isn’t, but it’s very funny to watch.”

For more from Lana and Elton, head to RollingStone.com.