50 Fun Facts About Lorde

What is Lorde's real first name?

Her full name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor.

In which year was Lorde born?

She was 16 when Royals topped the US chart.

Which Lorde single spent nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100?

It sold 10 million units worldwide and is certified diamond in the US.

What was the title of Lorde's debut studio album?

It was released in September 2013 and sold six million copies by 2021.

Which producer worked with Lorde on her early material including The Love Club EP?

Little was the former lead singer of Goodnight Nurse.

On which platform did Lorde self-release The Love Club EP for free in 2012?

It had been downloaded 60,000 times before UMG released it commercially.

Which producer co-created Melodrama with Lorde?

Antonoff's band Bleachers got a co-write from her the same year.

Which 2014 film soundtrack did Lorde curate?

She recorded four tracks for it, including Yellow Flicker Beat.

Lorde's 2021 album Solar Power explored which style?

The acoustic turn split critics, which she later called 'painful'.

Who co-produced Lorde's fourth album, Virgin?

The record returned to the electropop of her early work.

How many Grammy Awards has Lorde won?

Both came for Royals: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.

In which Auckland suburb was Lorde born?

She grew up in the North Shore suburbs of Devonport and Bayswater.

What is Lorde's mother Sonja Yelich's profession?

Lorde cites her mother as the primary influence on her songwriting.

Lorde holds dual citizenship with which European country?

Her mother was born to Croatian immigrants from Dalmatia.

How many siblings does Lorde have?

She is the second of four children: sisters Jerry and India and brother Angelo.

Which dystopian novel by M. T. Anderson does Lorde cite as a lyrical influence?

She also names Salinger, Raymond Carver and Janet Frame.

With which friend did Lorde win her school talent show in 2009?

The duo later gigged as 'Ella & Louis' at Auckland cafes.

Which UMG A&R executive signed the young Lorde for development?

He received recordings of her covering Mama Do and Warwick Avenue.

In which literature competition was Lorde's school team a 2009 world runner-up?

The global contest is for students aged 10 to 14.

How long did Lorde and her producer take to record The Love Club EP?

They worked at Little's Golden Age Studios in Morningside, Auckland.

Lorde attended which secondary institution while launching her career?

She completed Year 12 and chose not to return for Year 13.

Lorde was the youngest US number-one artist since which 1987 chart-topper?

Lorde was 16 when Royals reached the top.

Her debut album won which award for the best NZ album of 2013?

The APRA Silver Scroll went to Royals instead.

Which single from her debut album reached the top spot at home?

Team reached number six in the United States.

Lorde's Catching Fire soundtrack cover was of which Tears for Fears song?

The 2013 film came a year before she curated the Mockingjay soundtrack.

Lorde's 2013 publishing deal was reportedly worth how much?

Songs Music Publishing won a bidding war that included Sony and UMG.

Lorde sang with the surviving members of which band at their 2014 Hall of Fame induction?

They sang All Apologies; Grohl and Novoselic said her lyrics had 'Nirvana aesthetics'.

Which Lorde song earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song?

It also won Single of the Year at the 2015 New Zealand Music Awards.

Whose song Life on Mars did Lorde perform as a tribute at the 2016 Brit Awards?

Bowie's camp chose her because he called her 'the future of music'.

What was the lead single from Melodrama?

NME and The Guardian both named it the best song of 2017.

Which three artists featured on the Homemade Dynamite remix?

Khalid also opened on the Melodrama World Tour.

Lorde's debut was the first by a woman to pass 1,000,000 US sales since which album?

It reached the mark in February 2014, five months after release.

Metacritic ranked Melodrama second among 2017's best albums behind which record?

Melodrama was also nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys.

Which Bleachers song did Lorde co-write and sing backing vocals on?

She also co-wrote Heartlines for New Zealand duo Broods.

Which continent did Lorde visit in January 2019 for her photo book Going South?

Photographer Harriet Were took the pictures.

Lorde said she began Solar Power following the death of what?

She revealed the news on 20 May 2020.

Te Ao Mārama, the Solar Power companion EP, is sung entirely in which language?

All proceeds go to Forest & Bird and Te Hua Kawariki.

Lorde's 2024 Talking Heads cover for an A24 tribute album was of which song?

The album honoured the concert film Stop Making Sense.

Lorde appeared on a remix of which Charli XCX song in 2024?

The two performed it at Madison Square Garden and Coachella.

What was the lead single from Virgin?

It was her first US top 40 hit since 2017.

Where did Virgin debut on the US Billboard 200?

It went to number one in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

At which festival did Lorde play Virgin in full in a surprise set on release day?

The album's tour was named Ultrasound.

What vocal range does Lorde have?

Billboard described her voice as 'dynamic, smoky and restrained'.

Which neurological condition influenced how Lorde arranged Melodrama?

It led her to assign colours to each song's theme and emotion.

Why did Lorde add an e to the word Lord for her stage name?

The name reflects her fascination with royals and aristocracy.

Which animated show parodied Lorde in the 2014 episodes The Cissy and Rehash?

Her unchoreographed dancing has long divided audiences.

Lorde's 2015 charity single Team Ball Player Thing raised money to fight which illness?

She recorded it with the supergroup Kiwis Cure Batten.

Lorde became a patron of which Kiwi music charity in 2018?

It was formerly the New Zealand Music Foundation.

In January 2016, Lorde relocated to which inner-city Auckland suburb?

She had grown up on the North Shore.

Which Paul Simon album did Lorde listen to on New York subways while writing Melodrama?

She also cited a Ray Bradbury short story as inspiration for the album's story.