A 2013 minimal electro-pop single by New Zealand artist Lorde, addressing celebrity excess from the perspective of a suburban teenager.
Composition
Royals was written by Lorde (Ella Yelich-O’Connor) and producer Joel Little in Auckland in 2012. The arrangement is sparse, with finger snaps, programmed beats, and stacked backing vocals over a synthesized bass.
Reception
Released first in New Zealand in March 2013, Royals reached number one in over a dozen countries and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks. Lorde, then sixteen years old, became the youngest solo artist to top the Hot 100 since 1987.
Legacy
The song won two Grammy Awards at the 2014 ceremony, including Song of the Year. Royals introduced a minimalist, conversational lyric approach that influenced subsequent pop production through the 2010s.
Find more songs by letter
Royals starts with R and ends with S. Browse other songs along the same letter.
Songs that contain a letter from "Royals":