While the world is tied up with the saga of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s baby, there’s another kind of royal fever sweeping the globe, thanks to 16-year-old Kiwi singer Lorde.
Real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor, her debut single Royals shot to the top of the New Zealand singles chart, and has caught the attention of heavyweights such as Ryan Seacrest and US gossip blogger Perez Hilton.
Lorde, who juggles school and career with a “two weeks on, two weeks off” approach, started writing songs when she was just 13.
“My mum’s a poet, and we’ve always had so many books, and that’s always been a big thing for me, arguably more so than music,” she told The Listener in April.
But although she’s starting to get recognised when she leaves home, even when in New York where she’s been performing and giving interviews, fame is still “weird” for the teenager, especially as she has no money to show for it.
“I currently have a single digit in my bank account,” she told New York magazine, as well as posting on her Facebook page that her Eftpos card declined when she tried to buy a Subway sandwich.
Regardless of her wealth, or lack thereof, with more than three million views on her YouTube channel, this Auckland teenager is obviously rich in talent.
