Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally asLorde (/lɔːrd/LORD), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting.
Lorde and her Belmont team were named the runner-up in the 2009Kids' Lit Quiz World Finals, a global literature competition for students aged 10 to 14.[17] In May 2009, Lorde and her friend Louis McDonald won the Belmont Intermediate School annual talent show as a duo.[20] In August that year, Lorde and McDonald made a guest appearance onJim Mora'sAfternoons show onRadio New Zealand. There, they performedcovers ofPixie Lott's "Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)" andKings of Leon's "Use Somebody".[21] McDonald's father then sent his recordings of the duo covering "Mama Do" andDuffy's "Warwick Avenue" toUniversal Music Group (UMG)'sA&R executive Scott Maclachlan.[22] Maclachlan subsequently signed her to UMG for development.[23]
Lorde was also part of the Belmont Intermediate School band Extreme; the band placed third in the North Shore Battle of the Bands finals at theBruce Mason Centre, Takapuna, Auckland on 18 November 2009.[24] In 2010, Lorde and McDonald formed a duet called "Ella & Louis" and performed covers live on a regular basis at local venues, including cafés in Auckland and the Victoria Theatre in Devonport.[25] In 2011, UMG hired vocal coachFrances Dickinson to give her singing lessons twice a week for a year.[26] During this time, Maclachlan attempted to partner Lorde with several different producers and songwriters, but without success.[23][27] As she began writing songs, she learned how to "put words together" by readingshort fiction.[28]
Lorde performed her original songs for the first time at the Victoria Theatre in November 2011.[25] In December, Maclachlan paired Lorde withJoel Little, a songwriter, record producer, and formerGoodnight Nurse lead singer. The pair recorded five songs for anextended play (EP) at Little's Golden Age Studios inMorningside, Auckland, and finished within three weeks.[29] While working on her music career, she attendedTakapuna Grammar School from 2010 to 2013, completingYear 12.[30] She later chose not to return in 2014 to attendYear 13.[31]
2013–2015:Pure Heroine
When Lorde and Little had finished their first collaborative effort,The Love Club EP, Maclachlan applauded it as a "strong piece of music", but worried if the EP could profit because Lorde was obscure at the time.[23] In November 2012, the singer self-released the EP through herSoundCloud account for free download.[13] UMG commercially releasedThe Love Club in March 2013 after it had been downloaded 60,000 times, which signalled that Lorde had attracted a range of audiences.[23][32] It peaked at number two in New Zealand and Australia.[33] "Royals", the EP's single, helped Lorde rise to prominence after it became a critical and commercial success, selling more than 10 million units worldwide.[34] It peaked at number one on theBillboard Hot 100, making Lorde, then aged 16, the youngest artist to earn a number-one single in the United States sinceTiffany in 1987,[35] and has since been certifieddiamond by theRecording Industry Association of America.[36] The track won twoGrammy Awards forBest Pop Solo Performance andSong of the Year at the56th ceremony,[37] and was namedSingle of the Year at the2013 New Zealand Music Awards.[38] From late 2013 to early 2016, Lorde was in a relationship with New Zealand photographer James Lowe.[39]
Lorde's debut studio albumPure Heroine containing the single "Royals" was released in September 2013 to critical acclaim;[22] it appeared on several year-end best album lists.[40] The album received considerable attention for its portrayal of suburban teenage disillusionment and critiques of mainstream culture.[41] In the United States, the album sold over one million copies in February 2014, becoming the first debut album by a female artist sinceAdele's 2008 album19 to achieve the feat.[42]Pure Heroine earned a Grammy nomination forBest Pop Vocal Album[37] and had sold four million copies worldwide as of May 2017.[43] Three other singles were released from the album: "Tennis Court" reached number one in New Zealand,[44] while "Team" charted at number six in the United States,[45] and "Glory and Gore" was released exclusively to US radio.[46] At the2014 New Zealand Music Awards, Lorde won six awards:Album of the Year and Best Pop Album forPure Heroine, Single of the Year for "Team",Highest Selling New Zealand Single for "Royals", Best Female Solo Artist, and theInternational Achievement Award.[47]
In November 2013, Lorde signed a publishing deal withSongs Music Publishing, worth a reported US$2.5 million, after a bidding war between companies, includingSony Music Entertainment and her label UMG. The agreement gave the publisher the right to license Lorde's music for films and advertising.[48] Later that month, Lorde was featured on thesoundtrack for the 2013 filmThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire, performing a cover ofTears for Fears' 1985 song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".[49]Time included her on their lists of the most influential teenagers in the world in 2013 and 2014.[50][51]Forbes also placed her on their 2014 edition of30 Under 30; she was the youngest individual to be featured.[52]Billboard featured her on their 21 Under 21 list in 2013,[53] 2014,[54] and 2015.[55]
In January 2016, Lorde relocated toPonsonby, an inner-city suburb of Auckland.[68][69] At the2016 Brit Awards in February, Lorde andDavid Bowie's final touring band gave a tribute performance of his 1971 song "Life on Mars".[70] PianistMike Garson, a frequent band member for Bowie, explained that Bowie's family and management selected Lorde because he admired her and felt she was "the future of music".[71] Her cover was widely acknowledged as one of the finest performances in tribute to Bowie.[72] Later that year, Lorde co-wrote "Heartlines", a song by New Zealand music duoBroods from their 2016 albumConscious.[73]
Lorde performing in 2017
The lead single from her second studio albumMelodrama, "Green Light", was released in March 2017 to critical acclaim;[74] it was ranked as the best song of the year byNME andThe Guardian.[75][76] The single reached number one in New Zealand, number four in Australia,[77] number nine in Canada,[78] and number nineteen in the United States.[79] The album was supported by two other singles: "Perfect Places" and aremix of "Homemade Dynamite" featuringKhalid,Post Malone andSZA.[80] Produced mainly by Lorde andJack Antonoff,Melodrama was released on 16 June 2017.[81] Debuting atop the USBillboard 200 chart, the album became Lorde's first US chart topper;[82] it also reached number one in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.[83][84]
Melodrama explores heartbreak and messy feelings of late adolescence, evoked by a breakup.[85][86] It received widespread critical acclaim for the emotional weight of Lorde's songwriting and Antonoff's pop production styles;[81]Metacritic placed it second on their list of the best albums of 2017 based on publications' year-end lists, behindKendrick Lamar'sDamn.[87]Melodrama was nominated forAlbum of the Year at the60th Annual Grammy Awards.[88] At the2017 New Zealand Music Awards, the album won Album of the Year, "Green Light" won Single of the Year, and Lorde wonBest Solo Artist, Best Pop Artist, thePeople's Choice Award and the International Achievement Award.[89]
Lorde co-wrote and provided background vocals for American indie pop bandBleachers's song "Don't Take the Money", released in March 2017.[90] To promoteMelodrama, she embarked on theMelodrama World Tour (2017–2018), with Khalid,Run the Jewels,Mitski, andTove Styrke as opening acts.[91][92] In December 2017, Lorde cancelled her scheduled June 2018 concert inIsrael, following an online campaign byPalestinian solidarity activists supporting theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.[93] While Lorde did not explicitly indicate her reasons for the cancellation, she said that she had been unaware of thepolitical turmoil there.[94] The decision was welcomed by pro-Palestine groups and criticised by pro-Israel groups.[95][96]Billboard included Lorde on their 2017 edition of 21 Under 21,[97] whileForbes included her in their 30 Under 30 Asia list.[98]
2020–2023:Solar Power andTe Ao Mārama
Lorde revealed on 20 May 2020, that she started working on her third studio album with Antonoff following the death of her dog.[99] In November 2020, she announced the release ofGoing South, a book documenting her January 2019 visit toAntarctica with photos taken by photographer Harriet Were.[100]
Lorde's third studio album,Solar Power, was released on 20 August 2021. Its acoustic,indie folk-inspired sound was a departure from her previouselectropop albums, which polarised critics.[101][102] One year after the album's release, she reflected that the reaction toSolar Power was "really confounding" and "painful".[103] The album peaked at number one in Australia and New Zealand.[104] It was supported by three singles: "Solar Power", which reached number two in New Zealand,[105][106] "Stoned at the Nail Salon",[107] and "Mood Ring".[108] Lorde promoted the album on theSolar Power Tour (2022–2023).[109] She headlinedPrimavera Sound 2022 in Spain in June, as well as the festival's Brazil edition in November 2022.[110][111]
On 24 April 2025, Lorde released "What Was That", the lead single from her fourth studio album,Virgin.[124] "What Was That" peaked at number one in New Zealand,[125] and it became her first top-10 single in Australia and first top-40 single on the USBillboard Hot 100 since 2017.[126][127] The album spawned two further singles, "Man of the Year" and "Hammer".[128][129]
Virgin was released on 27 June 2025.[130] The album incorporates electropop and synth-pop styles that had defined Lorde's early works,[131][132] garnering generally positive reviews from critics for its emotional songwriting.[133]Virgin debuted at number one in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom,[104] and at number two in the United States.[127] Lorde became the first New Zealand artist to have six tracks simultaneously chart on theAotearoa Music Charts.[134] On the day ofVirgin's release, Lorde performed the album in its entirety during an unannounced set atGlastonbury Festival 2025.[135]
To promoteVirgin, Lorde announced her fourth concert tour, theUltrasound World Tour, comprising arena performances across North America, Europe, and Oceania.[136] In October 2025, during a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Lorde exclaimed "free fuckingPalestine", to show solidarity with the Palestinians.[137] Lorde later removed all of her songs fromApple Music in Israel as part of theNo Music For Genocide movement to protest againstIsrael's genocide in Gaza.[138]
Lorde's debut studio albumPure Heroine is characterized by a minimalist production,[156] exemplified by theart pop andelectropop single "Royals".[157][158]
Music critics highlighted Lorde's pop sound as unconventional and her songwriting as introspective.[159] In a 2017 interview withNME, she said, "I don't think about staying in my genre lane."[153] Her music primarily incorporates electropop,[160]alternative pop,[161][162]synth-pop,[163] andindie pop.[164]
Pure Heroine explores minimalist electropop,[158]art pop,[165]dream pop,[166] andindie-electro,[167] with influences ofhip-hop.[168]Melodrama was a departure from the hip-hop-oriented minimalist style of its predecessor, incorporatingsynth-pop sounds composed of piano-based arrangements,maximalist synths anddrum machine beats.[169][170]Solar Power again abandoned maximalism for a minimalist sound, this time incorporating acoustic guitars and mellow melodies.[171]Virgin returned to the synth-pop sound that had defined her early career, featuring synth-based arrangements with drum machine patterns, distorted synths, and electronic pulses.[163][172]
Lorde possesses acontralto vocal range.[173][174] BeforeMelodrama, Lorde only sang and did not play musical instruments on her records or onstage, saying, "[My] voice needs to have the focus. My vocal-scape is really important".[175]PopMatters described Lorde's vocals as "unique and powerfully intriguing",[166] whileBillboard characterised her voice as "dynamic, smoky and restrained".[176] For the Melodrama World Tour, however, she played a drum padsampler,[177] andxylophone onstage in some performances.[178] Shortly after finishing her tour, Lorde said she had started learning to play the piano.[179]Vice noted that her songs incorporated themixolydian mode, a melodic structure used in "blues-based andalternative rock" music, which set her songs apart from those in pop music for not fitting a commonmajor orminor chord.[180]
Regarding her songwriting process, Lorde explained that the foundation to her songs began with the lyrics, which could sometimes stem from a singular word meant to summarise a specific idea she had tried to identify.[14] For "Tennis Court", Lorde wrote the music before lyrics.[181] She stated that the songwriting onPure Heroine developed from the perspective of an observer.[85] Similarly, in an interview withNME, Lorde acknowledged that she used words of inclusion throughout her debut album, while her follow-upMelodrama presented a shift tofirst-person narrative, employing more introspective lyrics inspired by Lorde's personal struggles post-breakup and viewpoints on post-teenage maturity.[153] Lorde's neurological conditionchromesthesia influenced her songwriting on the album; it led her to arrange colours according to each song's theme and emotion.[85]
Public image and impact
Lorde is known for her unchoreographed dancing onstage.
Lorde's stage name illustrates her fascination with "royals andaristocracy"; she added an "e" after the name Lord, which she felt was too masculine, to make it more feminine.[182] She described her public image as something that "naturally" came to her and was identical to her real-life personality.[183] Lorde identifies as afeminist.[184]The New Zealand Herald opined that her feminist ideology was different from her contemporaries due to Lorde's lack of interest in sexualised performances.[185] She proclaimed herself in an interview withV magazine as a "hugelysex-positive person", saying, "I have nothing against anyone getting naked. ... I just don't think it really would complement my music in any way or help me tell a story any better".[186]
Critical reception of Lorde is generally positive, with praise concentrated on her maturity both musically and lyrically.[187]The New York Times called her "the pop prodigy" who was not conformed to boundaries and always sought experimentation.[85]Billboard recognised Lorde as a spokesperson for a "female rock resurgence" by introducing her works to rock and alternative radio, which had seen a traditional male dominance.[188] The publication also named her the "New Queen of Alternative" in a 2013 cover story.[13] JournalistRobert Christgau was less enthusiastic towards Lorde's styles, labelling the singer as "a pop property" that was indistinguishable from other mainstream artists.[189]
Lorde's critiques of mainstream culture onPure Heroine earned her the title "the voice of her generation",[22] a label she dismissed, saying that "young people have never needed a specialised spokesperson".[153]Jon Caramanica, writing forThe New York Times, credited Lorde for bringing forth a "wave of female rebellion" to mainstream audiences that embraced an "anti-pop" sentiment.[190] Sharing a similar viewpoint,Rolling Stone andNPR credited her debut studio albumPure Heroine as the foundation of that transformation.[156] Several analysts also noted Lorde's influence on themusic trends of the 2010s,[191] and have credited the singer with paving the way for the current generation of alternative-leaning pop artists.[192] She placed at number 12 on NPR's 2018 readers poll of the most influential female musicians of the 21st century.[193]Billboard ranked her number 44 on its list of the "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" in 2025.[194] Her work has influenced various artists, includingBillie Eilish,[195]Olivia Rodrigo,[196]Sabrina Carpenter,[197]Conan Gray,[198] andTroye Sivan.[199]
Her onstage persona, particularly her signature unchoreographed dancing, has polarised audiences. Her detractors have described her dance moves as "awkward" in comparison to other stage performers.[200]The Fader said she should be celebrated for her dancing as it is "more freeform and spontaneous" than structured choreography and "speaks an entirely different expressive language". The publication further elaborated that her "stage presence [is] more impactful than the average pop performance".[201] Lorde was parodied in theSouth Park episodes "The Cissy" and "Rehash", broadcast in October and December 2014, respectively.[202]
During the buildup to, and during the rollout of Lorde's fourth albumVirgin, her gender identity was speculated on, following a shifting in her dress sense, as well as posts on social media.[203] Lorde later toldEmma Chamberlain in an interview at the 2025Met Gala that she felt "like a man and a woman",[204] and later revealed toRolling Stone that she identifies as "in the middle, gender-wise." In the same interview, she described herself as a "wealthy, cis, white woman" while discussing trans rights and the privilege her identity confers.[205]
Philanthropy
Lorde has been involved in several philanthropic causes. "The Love Club" was included in the 2013 charity albumSongs for the Philippines to support the people in the Philippines who suffered fromTyphoon Haiyan.[206] In 2015, Lorde recorded "Team Ball Player Thing", acharity single, as part of thesupergroup Kiwis Cure Batten. All sales from the song went towards research for the cure ofBatten disease, a fatalneurodegenerative disorder.[207] Later that year, the singer was featured in the compilation albumThe Art of Peace: Songs for Tibet II to raise funds for the preservation of theTibetan culture.[208] The following year, Lorde made aNZ$20,000 donation to Fuel the Need, a New Zealand charity that provides lunches for underprivileged schoolchildren.[209] In 2018, she donated NZ$5,000 toStarship Hospital to fund the purchase of "five new portableneurology monitors".[210] Lorde became a patron of MusicHelps, formerly the New Zealand Music Foundation, a musical charity helping New Zealanders who are vulnerable to or experiencing serious health issues, in November 2018.[211] In January 2026, she donated $204,000 to the Minnesota Immigration Rights Action Committee and Immigrant Defense Network.[212]
^"Vauxhall School Achievers".National Library of New Zealand. The Devonport Flagstaff. 25 August 2006. p. 29.Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved21 November 2020.
^"Lorde Embraces Te Reo Māori".Waatea News: Māori Radio Station. 9 September 2021.Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved9 September 2021.
^abLachno, James (11 September 2013)."Lorde – New Music".The Daily Telegraph.Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved14 September 2013.
^Lorde (2013).Lyrical Influences (VEVO LIFT): Brought to You By McDonald's (video). VEVO/YouTube. Event occurs at 1:49.Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved22 November 2013.I think my writing process with 'Tennis Court' was quite different to how I normally write. Generally, I will have a lyric forming before I go into the studio. But with this one, we wrote the music and beat before we wrote anything lyrically.
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