![\"Lorde-Issue-No31\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Lorde-Issue-No31.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThis past summer, Lorde\u2019s sultry slice of electronic pop, \u201cRoyals,\u201d broke the record for weeks that a female artist spent at No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s Alternative Songs chart. (The previous record holder was Alanis Morissette in 1995 with \u201cYou Oughta Know.\u201d) It also marked the first time in 17 years that a female artist topped the Alternative chart. By the end of October, Lorde had bested Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus to top the pop charts for five straight weeks. Royal indeed.<\/p>\n
Lorde\u2014whose real name is Ella Yelich-O\u2019Connor\u2014celebrates her 17th birthday in November, a couple of months after the release of her debut album, Pure Heroine<\/i>. She\u2019ll end the year as one of the most buzzed-about artists, but her reaction is typical teen: \u201cI know, it\u2019s insane,\u201d she\u00a0says with a giggle.<\/p>\n
A year ago few knew her name\u2014those familiar with her fetching, soulful voice mostly numbered family, friends and Universal Music, which signed Lorde to a development deal when she was 13. All that changed last November when\u00a0The Love Club<\/i> EP was released. \u201cIt took five or six months in New Zealand to get to No. 1,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
Lorde has never wanted to learn to play an instrument. \u201cI want to focus on my voice,\u201d she says. Despite her development deal, it wasn\u2019t until she worked with producer Joel Little (New Zealand pop-punks Goodnight Nurse) that having a singing career seemed tangible. \u201cI started working with Joel, who co-wrote the EP and worked on the album. It was at that point, when I thought I had a grip on what I wanted to sound like, that I realized maybe I can actually do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lorde\u2019s September U.S. tour, her first performing outside New Zealand and Australia, included sold-out dates on the West Coast and New York City. It also immersed her in the world of buzz and bling that \u201cRoyals\u201d\u2014a song decrying superstar excess\u2014willfully denounced. \u201cWell, that song was written with just a bit of jealousy too,\u201d she says impishly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wild,\u201d Lorde adds about her success. \u201cBut this is the first music I\u2019ve ever released, so this is my first experience with a reaction. So I kind of assume this is normal. That\u2019s good, because I\u2019m not like falling over and freaking out with the pressure. I\u2019m just, \u2018OK, cool, perfect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Linda Laban<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LORDE Call her queen bee: The edgy teen with the luxe vocals rules the charts\u00a0 This past summer, Lorde\u2019s sultry slice of electronic pop, \u201cRoyals,\u201d broke the record for weeks that a female artist spent at No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s Alternative Songs chart. (The previous record holder was Alanis Morissette in 1995 with \u201cYou Oughta […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[7328,7334],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11742,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11740\/revisions\/11742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}