Lorde
Lorde, born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor in 1996 in Auckland, New Zealand, is a celebrated singer-songwriter known for her unique voice and mature songwriting. She gained fame as a teenager with her debut EP, *The Love Club*, which included the hit single "Royals." The song made history by topping the US Billboard Hot 100 and earning her multiple Grammy Awards, establishing her as a prominent figure in contemporary pop music. Lorde's full-length debut album, *Pure Heroine*, was critically acclaimed and further solidified her status, showcasing her ability to address complex themes beyond typical pop subjects, such as existentialism and societal critique.
Her subsequent album, *Melodrama*, released in 2017, explored post-breakup experiences and won several accolades, although it received a mixed commercial response. In 2021, she released *Solar Power*, which displayed a shift in her musical style and was accompanied by a companion Māori language album, *Te Ao Mārama*, with proceeds supporting environmental charities. Throughout her career, Lorde has been recognized for her feminist stance and her role as a musical role model, challenging traditional perceptions of female pop artists. Her evolution as an artist continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, reflecting a blend of introspection, maturity, and artistry.
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Subject Terms
Lorde
Singer-songwriter
- Born: November 7, 1996
- Place of Birth: Auckland, New Zealand
Background
Singer-songwriter. Lorde was born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1996. She was the second of four children born to Sonja Yelich, a poet, and Victor O’Connor, a civil engineer. She was raised in the Auckland suburb of Devonport.
Lorde developed an interest in performance at an early age, participating in musical theater productions from the time she was five years old. Thanks to her poet mother, she also had a love of books and began reading works by Raymond Carver and Kurt Vonnegut by the time she was twelve.
Lorde attended Belmont Intermediate School, where, at age twelve, she won the school’s talent show with a performance of a cover song. Impressed by her unique voice and mature stage presence, a friend’s father sent a recording to manager Scott Maclachlan, who helped her to secure a record deal.
Signed by Universal Records at age thirteen, she began work on her debut EP, The Love Club. Due to a lifelong fascination with royalty and aristocracy, she considered performing under the stage moniker Duke but eventually decided that it was too masculine. She ultimately opted to adopt the name Lord, adding an e to the end to make the name appear more feminine.
Rise to Stardom
The Love Club was released as a free download on the music site SoundCloud in November 2012 and quickly reached over sixty thousand downloads. An official digital release followed in March 2013, and Universal released a CD in May of that year. The Love Club debuted in the number-two position on the New Zealand Top 40 album chart.
The EP’s first single, "Royals," debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40 chart and remained there for three weeks. In August 2013, "Royals" reached the top of the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, making Lorde the first female artist in seventeen years to reach that position. "Royals" also made Lorde the first solo artist from New Zealand to top the US Billboard Hot 100 and the youngest artist to do so in more than twenty-five years.
Lorde’s second EP, the Tennis Court EP, was released in June 2013. Its lead single, "Tennis Court," debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40 chart, giving Lorde a record high of four tracks on the chart simultaneously.
Lorde’s full-length debut, Pure Heroine, was released in September 2013 to widespread critical and commercial success. Its singles "Royals" and "Team" both went multiplatinum, selling millions of copies each. Driven by the continued success of "Royals," the album propelled the singer-songwriter to international stardom and a bevy of live performances, including on television shows such as Later . . . with Jules Holland and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Numerous critics lauded the record as a welcome deconstruction of its pop music contemporaries and a more serious and thought-provoking play on the genre.
Pure Heroine was widely acclaimed. It was nominated for Grammy Awards in four categories, including Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and named album of the year 2014 at the New Zealand Music Awards. The song "Royals" won Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, the Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Song, and MTV's Video Music Award (VMA) for Best Rock; Lorde capped her Grammy victory with a live performance of the song at the awards ceremony. Lorde later won the category of Single of the Year at the 2013, 2014, and 2015 New Zealand Music Awards, with "Royals," "Team," and "Yellow Flicker Beat," respectively.
Lorde's single "Green Light," released in March 2017, went platinum within seven months. For her post-breakup album titled Melodrama (2017), she collaborated with Jack Antonoff, of the indie-pop band fun. The Grammy-nominated chart topper also won the New Zealand Music Awards for album of the year, pop, and solo artist. After its release, Lorde embarked on an international tour. Melodrama found less commercial success than her previous work, however, selling a half-million copies within its first year.
Lorde's wordless interpretive dance performance at the 2017 VMAs ceremony stoked controversy. The following year she was among the few women nominated for a Grammy. However, she was not given the opportunity to perform solo at the ceremony like other nominees in her category.
After staying away from the public eye for several years, in November 2020, Lorde published the book Going South, which documented a trip she took to Antarctica in January 2019. In 2021, she released her third studio album, Solar Power. While the album received mixed reviews for a sound that differed from her previous albums, most critics complimented Lorde on her increased mastery of her voice. Later that year, she released a companion to the album, Te Ao Mārama, a Māori language album headed by New Zealand producer Dame Hinewehi Mohi. Proceeds from the album were donated to the New Zealand-based charities Forest and Bird and Te Hua Kawariki.
To support Solar Power, Lorde embarked on a concert tour in 2022 and 2023. She debuted two new songs on her tour, "Silver Moon" and "Invisible Ink."
Impact
Lorde emerged as one of several artists in the pop music genre who have challenged previous conceptions of female pop artists as carefree starlets. She dealt with her critical and commercial success with aplomb, stating in several interviews that she remained unsure if music in fact would be her major pursuit in life. She also made no qualms about her stance as a vocal feminist, embracing her role as a musical role model for women throughout the world. Lorde distinguished herself from many contemporaries due to her embrace of subject matter beyond the typical pop milieu of love and relationships, opting to explore more existential and critical themes, a maturity made more profound by her stage presence and evocative range as a vocalist.
Bibliography
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Kaufman, Gil. “Lorde Talks Work on 4th Album, Says She’s ‘Excited About What’s Coming.’” Billboard, 14 Feb. 2023, www.billboard.com/music/pop/lorde-talks-working-fourth-album-1235253610/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Liedel, Kevin. "Lorde: Pure Heroine." Slant, 29 Sept. 2013, www.slantmagazine.com/music/lorde-pure-heroine/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Lipshutz, Jason. "The New Queen of Alternative." Billboard Sept. 2013: 26. Print.
Mazurek, Brooke. "Lorde on the Historic 2018 Grammys, the #Metoo Movement & Loving Cardi B." Billboard, 19 Jan. 2018, www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/8094826/lorde-billboard-cover-story-grammy-2018. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Ryan, Charlotte. "Lorde: Behind the Success Story." New Zealand Herald, 2 May 2013, www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/lorde-behind-the-success-story-audio/D27THFHDB3C6PJT5GJEWWXHUZ4/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
Weiner, Jonah. "Lorde’s Teenage Dream." Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2013, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lordes-teenage-dream-75595/. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.