Lana Del Rey and Chris Isaak might not be two names you’d expect to hear together, but their live duet on “Wicked Game” is really gorgeous to hear. Del Rey invited the Californian hitmaker up for a duet at her show at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheatre in Los Angeles, creating a truly beautiful moment onstage. Despite being from different eras and styles, the pair’s vocals are just such a natural fit for each other.
It was Del Rey’s rodeo, but she let Isaak take centre stage, and he nailed the dreamy lead vocal while playing the acoustic guitar. Del Rey’s lead guitarist provided the moody melodies of Isaak’s signature song, while the New York diva sang a tasteful counterpoint that perfectly set the mood for the performance. Her airy backing vocals lent an ethereal vibe to the song, making for a particularly memorable performance of the hit.
The high point of the duet was definitely Dey Rey’s soaring lead vocal over the final section of the song, which was hauntingly beautiful. Isaak’s tale of heartbreak seems almost made for Dey Rey, and fans picked up on this, adding comments like “I wish she had sung more parts of this song—it fits her voice so well. A studio version is a must” and “I don’t think the crowd knows how lucky they are that they got to see this.”
Unfortunately, this performance is the only time Dey Rey and Isaak have collaborated. The one-time nature of their collaboration may be due to the fact that Isaak is now in his 60s; judging by how few releases he has made in recent years, it appears that he may be semi-retired. Dey Rey had a busy schedule at her Hollywood Bowl appearance, as she also sang duets with Sean Lennon and Jesse Rutherford. You can hear Rutherford sing a smouldering version of “Daddy Issues” with Del Rey below.
“Wicked Game” was the lead single from Isaak’s third album, Heart Shaped World. The ballad was released as a single in July 1989 and became a sleeper hit after its appearance in the soundtrack for David Lynch’s 1990 film, Wild at Heart. The song was picked up by Atlanta radio station director and Lynch fanatic, Lee Chesnut. After gaining national momentum, it eventually peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Wicked Game” is by far Isaak’s biggest hit and remains popular to this day. The song has attracted 567 million streams on Spotify, which outranks all of his other songs by a huge margin. It’s no surprise that Dey Rey chose to cover “Wicked Game,” as the tune has been covered countless times over the years. It is also a common feature in films, television series, and advertisements. The track has become so ubiquitous in different media formats that Dazed magazine speculated it might be the most influential love song in contemporary music.