Benson Boone is still excited to tell the story of how he got the chance to perform his hit song “Beautiful Things” with Lana Del Rey. During an interview at the Grammy Museum Thursday night, Boone recounted that he got a call from the “Born To Die” singer, inviting him to join her for a duet at Hangout Fest in Alabama in May.
“I was sitting here on the plane and it was about to take off and I got a call. Obviously I didn’t know who it was,” he said. “I usually answer the phone… I was ready to have a little chat with Don from State Farm and talk about insurance, which I obviously already have.”
“I answered the phone and I said, ‘Hi, it’s Roger, who’s that?’ It wasn’t Roger, it was me. And she said, ‘Hi, this is Lana.’ … I said, ‘Lana, do I know you? Lana who?’ And she said, ‘Oh, Lana Del Rey,’” Boone added, reenacting his hilarious reaction when he realized who was on the phone. “It was the craziest thing. I didn’t even hear the next thing she said. I’m sure she talked for a while but I didn’t hear anything she said. I was freaking out.”
In the call, Del Rey invited Boone to join her on stage at the festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. She called his manager, made sure their schedules were cleared, and he agreed to do it. “It was the craziest thing ever,” he said, adding that he sent her a photo of his outfit before the show. “I had so much fun.”
Boone explained that the duo were able to test the song on stage at 11 p.m. the night before their performance. “There was a storm and there was lightning everywhere. She was like, ‘I’m so nervous.’ I didn’t tell her I was nervous. She played it cool. ‘It’s okay, we’ll be fine.’ Inside, I was like, ‘Ah!’”
“I went back to the hotel and had a great night, I didn’t sleep at all,” he continued. “I woke up the next day. Well, I didn’t wake up. I got out of bed the next day, and then I went over there and we celebrated and it was so great. She’s so sweet. She’s so great.”
Boone was one of several guests — including Jelly Roll, Nessa Barrett, and Tommy Genesis — who joined Del Rey on stage at the Hangout Festival in mid-May. Onstage at the event, Boone did his signature backwards move after their performance, prompting Del Rey to joke, “Oh my God, Benson! I don't have insurance on this shit! Thanks, Benson.”
The new interview with Boone comes after Luminate revealed that “Beautiful Things” is the most-streamed song of the year through the first half of 2024, with 1.43 billion streams worldwide. In the US alone, “Beautiful Things” remains at No. 1 with 448 million streams across all major platforms.
On Friday, Boone released his single “Death Wise Love” from his album Tornadoes The soundtrack that follows his album Fireworks and slideswhich fell in April.
