Lana Del Rey's debut album 'Born To Die' has, since its release, largely exceeded expectations, becoming the second biggest seller of the year so far and a platinum-selling album across Europe and Australia, despite not scoring a considerably big hit and a limited number of promo appareances. For example, the album is the third biggest seller of the year and still rising weekly in the UK, despite the lack of a strong single and not having a high-profile promo until next week, when she will perform on 'The Voice'; similar situations can be seen in France, Germany, Ireland, and Australia, where her album debuted at number one and got certified Platinum, extremely impressive result for a debut album with not a single promo appearance.

Ironically, Del Rey hasn't managed to break into her home market, the US, yet, despite a quite consistent amount of promo ('Saturday Night Live', 'Letterman', 'American Idol', 'Jimmy Kimmel'), ammassing little more than 200K sold since release. Part of this underperformance (compared to the European success) can be attributed to the lack of a radio single, but is US radio gonna give tracks like 'Blue Jeans', 'National Anthem' or 'Summertime Sadness' a chance? Can Lana still happen in the US?

EDIT: Born To Die has now sold little more than 260K there. She hasn't 'happened', but she hasn't fallen off the radar either; no singles have been officially sent to radio yet. Can the imminent and potentially controversial release of 'National Anthem', whose stunning video premièred today, help her become a big star in her homeland?

Maybe not with this album, maybe her second album will be different in sales in the US. 'Born to Die' made Lana more famous than '19' made Adele.

When your debut is marked with a very distinctly negative characteristic, that's a stigma that stays with the artist for a while, at least in the eyes of the public. It will take time to overcome it, and others may never be able to defeat the mistake. Perhaps Lana will, but there's a good chance she'll be labeled in a way that prevents more mainstream success.

Originally posted by Stephen When your debut is marked with a very distinctly negative characteristic, that's a stigma that stays with the artist for a while, at least in the eyes of the public. It will take time to overcome it, and others may never be able to defeat the mistake. Perhaps Lana will, but there's a good chance she'll be labeled in a way that prevents more mainstream success.

Originally posted by Dominic She'll make it after Off To The Races is released as a summer single.

Nope.

Originally posted by Dominic Off To The Races is an obvious summer smash. Just wait for that and y'all will be wrong.