Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’connor, or more commonly known as Lorde, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter, known to spearhead the alternative-indie genre. Born on November 7th, 1996 in Auckland and raised in Devonport, she always wanted to perform at local venues when she was younger. In 2009, she signed with Universal Music Group and in 2011 eventually collaborated with Joel Little to start recording and releasing material. 

In 2013, Lorde’s first EP, The Love Club, was released. This EP included the song “Royals”, which was Lorde’s catalyst to rise to prominence. In the next year, her debut studio album Pure Heroin was released and was commercially and critically successful. Keeping up the momentum, Lorde actually curated the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 and actually recorded several songs that made it to the soundtrack, like “Yellow Flicker Beat”. In 2017, she released her second studio album  Melodrama, which also debuted at number 1 in the United States, garnering widespread acclaim. 

Being primarily electropop with subgenres of dream pop and indie-electro, Lorde’s music won her two Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, and a Golden Globe nomination. She appeared in Time’s list of the most influential teenagers in 2013 and 2014, and the 2014 list of Forbes 30 under 30. 

Balancing her solo career, Lorde also co-writes for other artists, like Broods and Bleachers. As of june 2017, Lorde has sold over 5 million albums world wide.