Lorde reflects on teenage stardom: ‘People wanted to drink my youth’
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times, the New Zealand singer Lorde candidly discusses her rise to superstardom. At the age of 16, in 2013, after the release of her studio debut album, Pure Heroine, the young pop star became an icon due to her superhit single ‘Royals.’
Lorde’s third studio album, Solar Power, is a sunny acoustic beauty of 1970's California flecked with 90’s pop – a stark departure from the brooding clash of her past work
Has she moved on from her fans? Or are we all just stuck in the past? https://t.co/BUjQfVUXEn
— Times Politics (@timespolitics) August 22, 2021
Lorde is no stranger to instant fame and when asked about this, she commented ‘It’s not normal. My first single was so huge — I thought, ‘This just happens.’ I remember, over and over, the sensation of feeling like people wanted to drink my youth.’ She further explained ‘Some elixir! People were like, ‘Give it to me!’ I felt, ‘God, this is about you.’ I was aware of what my youth was doing to people, but I just wanted to be really good [at music].’
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The 24-year-old singer also shares that this teenage stardom caused her to mature faster than her age, ‘I have grown so much in the years since I became famous. A lot of my school friends describe me as a mum or grandma. I’m their old lady friend.’ She said ‘But the thing about my job is that I get to play. So, in a way, you are immortalized. Friends leave that sandbox; I will always be kind of a child because of what I do.’
Artists who were thrust into the limelight at a very young age, like Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Justin Beiber, or Michael Jackson have often spoken about the struggles of teenage stardom. It can become very overwhelming to bear such pressure, however, when Lorde was asked this question, she responded by saying that fame is ‘a really interesting thing to happen.’
Why?
When you’re suddenly world-famous at 16 the pressure can break you — as it did to so many other teenagers thrust into the pop machine. She’s not the only young star to notice either: the likes of Billie Eilish and Lizzo have spoken and sung about similar challenges pic.twitter.com/X40CXPNEij
— Times Politics (@timespolitics) August 22, 2021
She explained ‘It gets tricky for people if they find the experience super-validating if they feel it’s giving them fuel. For me, I was always a little suspicious of it, or sure it would go away.’
‘I am significantly less famous than I was when I was 16, but that’s exactly how I like it,” she shared. ‘I’m not getting my validation from it.’
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Over the years, Lorde has faced setbacks and disappointments as her sophomore album, Melodrama, did not see the same success as her previous album. Lorde recognizes this and comments, ‘When Melodrama came out, I had this moment of being, ‘Ah, I’m not always going to be No. 1 for nine weeks.’ She added on ‘Now I’ve settled into this place where people call you, then one day they won’t. And that’s all good. I’m a different part of the meal. I know who I am.’
After almost a decade in the industry, and several more years of fame, Lorde claims to finally understand the experience of finding stardom at such a tender age, ‘It’s funny. I’m still only really understanding this now. For the first songs you’ve written to have that impact gives you a really skewed perception of how it all works.’ She said ‘Everyone wanted to meet me and know how my brain works.’
With the release of her third album, Solar Power, the singer states that she has found peace and that ‘I’m more settled.’
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