Lorde is the professional name of Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, a New Zealand singer-songwriter from Takapuna, New Zealand. Her work is associated with alternative pop, alternative rock, art pop, dance-pop, folk pop and indie pop, and she is known for introspective writing and for using unusual musical approaches.

Early career

Lorde shows an interest in performing at local venues in her early teens. She signs with Universal Music Group in 2009 and begins recording with producer Joel Little in 2011. Their first release together is the EP The Love Club, which is first made available as a free download on SoundCloud before a commercial release in 2013.

Breakthrough and albums

The EP includes the international chart-topping single "Royals", which brings her to wider attention. Her debut studio album, Pure Heroine, is released in 2013 and achieves critical and commercial success. She then curates the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 in 2014 and records several tracks for it, including "Yellow Flicker Beat".

Her second studio album, Melodrama, is released in 2017 and debuts at number one on the US Billboard 200. Her third studio album, Solar Power, is released in 2021 and moves into indie folk and psychedelic styles. It reaches number one in Australia and New Zealand and places in the top 10 in several other countries.

Awards and recognition

Lorde receives two Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards and a Golden Globe nomination. She appears in Time's list of the most influential teenagers in 2013 and 2014, and in the 2014 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. By June 2017, she has sold over five million albums worldwide.

Other work

Alongside her solo recordings, Lorde co-writes songs for other artists, including Broods and Bleachers.