Why did Lorde shun Hollywood – and A-list friends Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez – for a quiet life in New Zealand? ‘Solar Power’ and her other albums might have some answers
- What do the Grammy winner’s new songs California and Secrets From a Girl reveal about her past celebrity lifestyle and her decision to step back from social media?
- She was once rumoured to be dating Jack Antonoff, producer for Lana Del Rey and ex of Lena Dunham, and likened fame to having ‘very specific allergies’
The Hollywood lifestyle was challenging
Lorde’s musical reign began at age 16 with Royals, a breakthrough song that held the No 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for nine weeks and won two Grammys in 2013. But that might have been too early for her to begin a new rich and famous life in La La Land.
She was a “teen millionaire having nightmares from the camera flash”, she sings in the intro of The Path, which she has described as a thesis for her new album, according to The New York Times. She didn’t want to “take the call if it’s the label or the radio” and she wondered “where are the dreams we had”.
Lorde also unveiled aspects of her celebrity lifestyle in “Melodrama”. She “lived and died every night” when she “felt the party to her bones”, she sings in Perfect Places.
She thought it was “crazy” to spend so much time in Los Angeles and New York when she was younger, according to Rolling Stone. “I think it can kind of f*** with you if you’re a kid,” she said.