Lorde - Royals - Single

"Royals" is a song recorded by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde for her extended play debut, The Love Club EP, and also included on her September 2013 debut studio album, Pure Heroine. It was released as her first single on 2 August 2013. The song was drafted by Lorde in half an hour then refined with Joel Little, the single's producer. An art pop, minimal pop, electropop and R&B song, "Royals" was intended as a "response to everything that's on pop radio",[1] with lyrics that revolve around aspirationalism, counterpointing popular artists' luxurious lifestyles.

The track and lyrics largely received critical acclaim from international media, with widespread praise of both production and message. The eventual commercial success of "Royals" exceeded most expectations: occupying the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart's top-spot for nine consecutive weeks, with Lorde the first New Zealander solo act to top that chart. In the US, the single has been certified six-times platinum by RIAA and has topped mainstream charts in New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom – plus reaching the top five in Australia and Switzerland.

To promote the song, Lorde performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the 2013 New Zealand Music Awards. Two music videos for "Royals" were directed by Joel Kefali; an international version and a US version. They featured lives of Lorde's schoolmates in slow motion. By the end of 2013, the track was listed as one of the year's best songs by media outlets including Rolling Stone, Time and Spin. The song won an APRA Silver Scroll Award, and then Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.[2] A live mashup with Disclosure and AlunaGeorge's song "White Noise" at the 2014 BRIT Awards was released as a charity single in 2014.