Royals (song)


"Royals" is the debut single by New Zealand singer Lorde, from her debut extended play, The Love Club EP. It was later included on her debut studio album, Pure Heroine and released through Universal Music. Lorde co-wrote the song with her producer Joel Little after the two were paired by her A&R representative Scott MacLachlan. "Royals" was described as an art pop and electropop song with influences of grime, hip hop, and indie pop. Its lyrics detail disapproval of the luxurious lifestyle of contemporary artists.
"Royals" received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised its musical style, lyrics, and Lorde's vocal performance. Several sites ranked it as one of the best songs of the year, with Slant and Consequence of Sound placing it on the top spot of their respective lists. The single garnered success on charts internationally, reaching the number one spot for nine consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and simultaneously breaking several records. It also peaked atop record charts in other markets, including Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. "Royals" sold 10 million units worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all-time.
Joel Kefali directed the music video for "Royals" which premiered on Lorde's YouTube channel on 12 May 2013. It consists mostly of scenes of normal teenagers doing unexceptional things shot in slow motion. "Royals" won awards for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards as well as the APRA Silver Scroll Award. A live mashup with Disclosure and AlunaGeorge's song "White Noise" at the Brit Awards was released as a charity single in 2014. In the media, the song has been credited for inspiring some artists to adopt its minimalist sound, and has been called an anthem for millennials.

Background and writing

Lorde was born in 1996. A&R representative Scott MacLachlan of Universal Music Group discovered her at age 12, when he saw footage of her performing at a school talent show in Auckland, New Zealand. At age 13, she began writing songs. MacLachlan tried unsuccessfully to set her up with several songwriters and producers to help her with production. When she turned 15, he paired Lorde with Joel Little in December 2011. Her vocal performance and songwriting abilities impressed him, and he composed songs with musical structures based on her lyrics.
Lorde wrote "Royals" lyrics in half an hour at her home in July 2012. The pair recorded songs at Little's Golden Age Studios in Morningside, Auckland. Within a week during a school break Lorde finished recording "Royals". She thought of writing a song about the symbols of luxury displayed by some pop musicians. After seeing an image by photographer Ted Spiegel in the July 1976 edition of National Geographic showing Kansas City Royals' baseball player George Brett signing baseballs, with his team's name emblazoned across his shirt, she had its title. She recalled during a 3 September 2013 VH1 interview, "It was just that word. It's really cool."
More broadly, historic aristocrats also inspired the song. She explained the lyric "We're driving Cadillacs in our dreams" was something she read in a diary she received at the age of 12. Lorde also said that she took inspiration from hip hop-influenced artists during the writing process, yet criticised their "bullshit" references to "expensive" alcohol and cars. The singer said she had heard the album Watch the Throne, a collaboration between rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z, and the music of Lana Del Rey and ASAP Rocky. However, she realised those songs had too many references to luxurious lifestyles which did not represent her reality, and was another reason she wrote the song.

Release

Lorde made "Royals" available free of charge on SoundCloud on 22 November 2012, with The Love Club EP which contains four other songs. The singer commented on the decision to release the free EP saying it was inconvenient for people her age to pay for her music since they are less likely to have access to a credit card. Reaction to the song on social media was immediate, and by December "Royals" was broadcast for the first time on New Zealand radio station George FM. After many downloads it was removed from SoundCloud.
On 8 March 2013, "Royals" was sent to online stores in New Zealand and Australia. Jason Flom, president of Lava Records, had heard the song on SoundCloud and immediately signed a contract with Lorde. Flom began promoting Lorde and her song in the United States in March. In an interview with Billboard he commented, "I sent an email very shortly after signing to all the key people at iTunes, and I said, 'This really takes me back to when I signed Tori Amos'." Flom believed the singer could have the same impact. On the 19th of that month, the single was available on US online stores, but received little publicity.
According to Flom, a key step to popularising the song internationally was the addition of "Royals" to Sean Parker's playlist at Spotify on 2 April. The song subsequently debuted on Spotify's Viral Chart, which lists the most popular songs among the service's users. It reached the top in May 2013, and in the same month online sales increased in its territory. Two months later, "Royals" was sent to alternative radio stations in the United States, and on 13 August it was sent to top 40 radio stations. In other regions, "Royals" was available in August. In Austria and Finland, the track was digitally released on 2 August. It was released on 5 August in France, Luxembourg and Portugal, and in the United Kingdom its launch took place on 20 October.
"Royals" was also promoted through remixes released in partnership with artists The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Wale, Magazeen, and T-Pain, who was criticised for making changes to the lyrics and, according to MTV, turning the "original's anti-bling sentiments into a celebration of the extravagant life".

Composition and arrangement

"Royals" was described as an art pop and electropop song that incorporates elements of electronic and grime music, and draws influences from alternative music, R&B and indie pop. Its instrumentation consists of finger snaps bass and percussion, and a hip hop beat with some electronic effects. Its low-fidelity production is enhanced by synthesisers and Pro Tools software. "Royals" minimalist instrumentation has been compared to Grimes, Animal Collective and James Blake. Its "synth-heavy production" was likened to that of Purity Ring and Noah "40" Shebib.
Written in the key of D in Mixolydian mode, it is followed by the chord progression I-VII-IV. The song has a moderate tempo of 85 beats per minute. Lorde's husky vocals were compared to those of Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, and Florence Welch, for their low-pitch—a hybrid between Adele and Ellie Goulding. Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound described them as "romantic and playful", while Duncan Greive of The Guardian felt they were "simultaneously vulnerable and imperious". NPR's Ann Powers found that Lorde's sultry voice, "intriguingly sleepy beats and lyrics captured the exquisite ennui of a precocious teenager". On the song, Lorde performs with a mezzo-soprano vocal range, spanning F3 to F5.

Lyrical interpretation

"Royals"' message was compared to that of Nirvana's 1991 single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as it decries "the pop industry of which it became a part". According to Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail, the song expresses disapproval of the "bejewelled lifestyle" of hip hop artists. The Guardians Paul Lester likened its theme to those of "Million Dollar Bills" and "Tennis Court".
Described as an "anti-luxury anthem", "Royals" expresses Lorde's displeasure at the sumptuous vivid style represented by some pop artists in their songs. She criticises consumer society, and ridicules luxury items mentioned in popular hip hop songs. Other analysts noted thematic similarities—income inequality, or "unabashedly pop attacking unabashedly pop music"— with the songs: "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, "Gangnam Style", "Primadonna" by Marina and the Diamonds, "The Fear" by Lily Allen, "Swimming Pools " by Kendrick Lamar and "New Slaves" by Kanye West.
Matthew Perpetua of BuzzFeed, felt the issue addressed in "Royals" is growing up in New Zealand "immersed in American cultural imperialism", and that the core of the song is the alienation of social classes. The New York Times critic shared a similar view noting the track's verses describe "growing up in drab reality amid a popular culture that flaunts luxury brands and celebrates wildly conspicuous consumption". Jonah Bromwich of The Village Voice, however, remarked that "Royals" has the "potential to sound like a celebration of the very things" she is criticising. Lorde explained the concept was about the opulence one finds in various music videos and how it is "far from reality". The song is an honest criticism of a materialistic society.

Critical reception

"Royals" received widespread acclaim from music critics; its lyrical content and production was praised. Lewis Corner of Digital Spy awarded the song five out of five stars, praising its "addictive hook that thrives on its simplicity". The Guardian writer Duncan Grieve gave the song a positive review, highlighting Lorde's vocal performance and the track's lyrical content. He also praised the song's "direct response" to excess and wealth. Rita Houston of National Public Radio called "Royals" a "polished little gem of a song". Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that "Royals" was "smarter and deeper" than the pop songs that dominate the music market. In a profile for The Observer, Kate Mossman noted the song's original formula, calling it the "sound of 2013".
Scott Interrante of PopMatters described "Royals" sound as "distinct and fresh", while Rolling Stone writer Jon Dolan called it "foreboding but catchy, hushed but hype". Billboard Gary Trust called it an "atmospheric song celebrating underdogs and spurning celebrity overkill". Aziza Jackson of The Washington Times described it as "sheer genius in attempt and execution". Huw Woodward from Renowned for Sound, shared similar sentiments, giving the song a four-and-a-half star out of five rating, praising her mature vocals and production that help "create a catchy and satisfyingly danceable tune without going overboard with unnecessary 'explosives' that take away from the artist." The track was called "racist" by Véronica Bayetti Flores of the Feministing blog, prompting responses from several media publications, including CNN, Complex, and Vice.

Recognition and accolades

Musicians like David Bowie, Moby, Dizzee Rascal, and Dave Grohl have praised "Royals".
"Royals" appeared on several year-end top songs lists. Many media sources, including Slant, The Boston Herald, and Consequence of Sound named it the best song of 2013. Other publications such as Rolling Stone and The Guardian included "Royals" as the runner-up on their respective year-end lists. A number of other publications, including Billboard, NME, The Huffington Post, and Time included the song within the top ten of their year-end lists. The Village Voices Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll to find the best music of 2013 ranked "Royals" at number two after Daft Punk's "Get Lucky".
"Royals" also appeared on several all-time and decade lists. The Daily Telegraph placed the song at number 77 on their list of the 100 greatest songs of all time, while Rolling Stone ranked the song at number nine on their 21st century catalog. The National Public Radio ranked "Royals" at number six on their list of the 200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women. In 2019, Slant, Consequence of Sound, Rolling Stone, Stereogum, NME, and Pitchfork named it the 3rd, 4th, 11th, 23rd, 50th, and 129th best song of the 2010s respectively, while Billboard named it one of the 100 "Songs That Defined the Decade". Insider ranked the song as one of the 8 best songs of the decade.
On 15 October 2013, co-writers Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little won the APRA Silver Scroll award, which honours original New Zealand songwriting.
"Royals" was also nominated for three awards for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards: Record and Song of the Year as well as Best Pop Solo Performance, winning in the latter two categories. Lorde was the youngest New Zealander to win a Grammy, and the third-youngest performer overall. "Royals" also won Single of the Year at the 2013 New Zealand Music Awards. Listeners' votes placed the song in second place on Australian radio station Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2013, after Vance Joy's "Riptide".

Chart performance

North America

In its first seven days on sale, "Royals" sold 85,000 downloads and debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending 21 July 2013. In a subsequent interview, Lorde said, "I had a sneaking suspicion that it might do all right." On 31 August "Royals" moved up to number 17 on the Hot 100, becoming Lorde's first top 20 entry in the United States. With sales of 307,000 copies, "Royals" became the fourth release by an up-and-coming singer to reach the top spot on the Digital Songs chart. The song had the highest number of digital downloads for five non-consecutive weeks.
On the 12 October chart, "Royals" replaced "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, which had been at the top for two straight weeks, as the number one song in the United States. Aly Weisman of Business Insider noted that Lorde's performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon a few days before the charts were updated helped make it known to a wider audience. The song's rise to the top spot was attributed to 294,000 downloads made that week, 6.1 million streams, and an airplay audience of 128 million across all genres, earning her the highest airplay gainer for the week. The song would eventually top the charts for nine consecutive weeks. It was the top-selling song of the year by a female artist, and the fourth single with the longest running number one in the 2010s decade. It was certified diamond in 2018 for selling over 10 million copies.
Since its release in the United States, "Royals" has broken multiple records, many of them a result of Lorde's young age. At 16 years and 11 months old, Lorde became the youngest female artist in 26 years to top the Billboard Hot 100 since American singer Tiffany topped the chart with "I Think We're Alone Now" in 1987. It also made Lorde the first New Zealand act to have attained a Billboard Hot 100 number one as a lead artist and the youngest musician to top the chart with a song written by the performer, surpassing Soulja Boy, who achieved this at age 17 with "Crank That " in 2007. She became the youngest artist whose song stayed more than eight weeks in the number one position, a feat that was previously achieved by hip hop duo Kris Kross, at the age of 13, with their song "Jump", in 1992. It also made Lorde the youngest solo artist to reach that mark since Mario who, at 18 years old in 2005, topped the chart with "Let Me Love You". In August 2013, Lorde became the first solo female artist to top the Billboard Alternative Songs chart since Tracy Bonham in 1996. The song holds the record for longest run by a woman atop the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, surpassing Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know", which spent five weeks at number one. The track's success has been credited to heavy airplay on stations playing different genres of music.
In Canada, "Royals" debuted at number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100 and in the following weeks experienced a steady rise on the chart. In its twelfth week, the song reached the top of the 12 October chart with more than 29,000 copies sold. It remained there for six consecutive weeks before being replaced by Eminem and Rihanna's collaboration "The Monster", on 16 November. However, "Royals" returned to the top of the chart on the 23rd of that month, for a total of seven non-consecutive weeks at number one. It was later awarded seven platinum plaques by Music Canada for sales of more than 560,000 copies.

Europe and Oceania

The song debuted at number three on the Irish Recorded Music Association Chart on 3 October 2013, before climbing to number one the following week selling a further 309,000 copies. Birdy's "Wings" replaced it seven days later.
On 28 October, the Official Charts Company confirmed the song would enter the UK Singles Charts with sales of 82,551 units. On 28 October "Royals" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Lorde became the youngest solo artist to score a UK number one single since 15-year-old Billie Piper with her 1998 song "Because We Want To". "Royals" competed for the top spot with James Arthur's "You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You", taking it with a sales difference of 7,000 copies. The song sold 82,551 units. Surprised by the news, Lorde commented: "I'm so incredibly excited to be in first place this week and very grateful to all fans in the UK who bought 'Royals'!" The single fell to second place in its second week, selling another 59,903 copies, and by April 2014 had shipped more than 470,000 copies in the British territory. In August, it was awarded the platinum certificate of the British Phonographic Industry, for more than 600,000 copies distributed in the country.
In other regions of Europe, "Royals" also experienced commercial success, reaching the top position on the Euro Digital Songs chart, and landing within the top ten in Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Hungary, among others.
In Asia, the song performed moderately. It peaked at number 37 on the Gaon International Singles Chart in South Korea, with initial sales of 4,331 copies. In Japan, the song peaked at number 16. "Royals" debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40 on 15 March 2013 and remained in the top position for three weeks. In Australia, "Royals" was released simultaneously with The Love Club EP and was classified as a single for charting purposes. It spent two weeks at its peak position of number two on the ARIA Singles Chart; sales of tracks on the album counted toward the EP and therefore could not chart separately. The Australian Recording Industry Association has certified it six-times Platinum for shipping 420,000 units. The nation's fifth best-selling single of the year, the song was awarded a total of nine Platinum discs by ARIA for selling more than 630,000 units. "Royals" was the most streamed song in Australia by a female artist and New Zealand in 2013. As of November 2014, "Royals" had sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Music videos

Original version

Background

The accompanying music video for "Royals" was directed by Joel Kefali and released on Lorde's YouTube channel on 12 May 2013. Andrew Stroud was in charge of photography while Amber Easby handled production. It consists mostly of scenes of normal teenagers doing unexceptional things shot in slow motion. The actors, credited in the video as Robbie, Callum, Hadley and Abraham, are Lorde's schoolmates.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Lorde revealed that the video's concept was to show how teenage life can be "so mundane and so boring." She compared the feeling to the "waiting period of your life" where you cannot get into bars, drive, etc. In another interview with the publication, Lorde revealed she wanted to create a cinematic work of art that viewers could immerse themselves in. She felt her presence in the video was largely unnecessary. She opens and closes the video, which includes 30 seconds of her performing the song. This structure made some viewers uncomfortable prompting her to say: "If I can get that kind of response from people, then I think I'm doing something right." Lorde also explained the reason for her absence in the video, saying:

With pop music and pop musicians, you know everything about everyone all the time, particularly their physical appearance. With female musicians that's made a big thing of and I think people, certainly with me, have appreciated a bit of mystery. When I first released the EP I didn't have any imagery of myself, just this one illustration that was the cover of the EP. So that was a bit of a talking point. Since then I've been very selective about the visual content that comes out of me. It's something I feel strongly about.

Synopsis

The video begins with a monochrome shot of an unmade bed while the instrumental from "Biting Down" plays in the background. The scene fades to a shot moving away from a suburban neighborhood. A boy with a silver chain necklace is seen taking a shower. A static television screen is shown before the scene changes to the boy staring out from his bedroom window, laying down on a couch, eating breakfast and cutting his hair in a buzz cut style.
The boy is then shown in an indoor swimming complex. He appears in a living room with boxing gloves and trains with another person. He then stares at a mirror and pulls down his bloody lip, an injury he sustained from boxing. The video continues showing different city locations. Lorde is shown singing part of the song. The scene then transitions back to the boy waiting at a train stop with other friends. He rests his head against the window with a mundane expression on his face. The video ends with the camera moving towards the suburban neighborhood seen at the start.
In the outro, a shot of the boy arriving at a tennis court at night is shown with the instrumental from "Tennis Court" playing in the background.

Reception

Since its release, the video has garnered over 800 million views. Slant placed the video at number three on their best music videos of 2013 list, noting that her absence from it "speaks to both the 16-year-old's 'postcode' shame and her friends' suburban-teen ennui."
The video won the award for Best Rock Video at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Critics were divided over its placement in the rock category. Ethan Sacks of the New York Daily News wrote the singer's win in the rock category "over actual rock bands", angered many rock fans, but stressed Lorde was as surprised by the choice as anyone else. Alex Young of Consequence of Sound, however, explained that the reason Lorde won in the rock category was due to the absence of male nominees. Young believed that of the other nominated pop acts such as Ariana Grande, Beyoncé or Miley Cyrus, Lorde was the "easiest to justify as a 'rock' artist due to her goth-punk persona". Mathew Coyte of Rolling Stone Australia was unhappy with the artist's win saying that "Royals" was by "no means a rock song by anyone's definition, it's an electronic track". He found it strange the song was not nominated in the pop category. It received a nomination for Best Female Video in the aforementioned ceremony but lost to Katy Perry's "Dark Horse". It also won best music video at the 2013 New Zealand Music Awards.

Other versions

A US version of the video was released using the same clips as the original; however, it includes more clips of Lorde singing. It also omits scenes from the beginning and end referencing the other two Lorde songs. This cut the running time from 4:02 to 3:21. As of October 2019 the video has amassed over 780 million views. Months after the release of the US video, Lorde and her manager Scott Maclachlan both expressed regrets over "pandering" to the American audience. In his words, the new version "tainted" the concept of the original. For the Japanese release of Pure Heroine in February 2014, Lorde collaborated with Japanese illustrator and musician Akiakane to create an animated music video for "Royals".

Live performances

On 13 August 2013, a rendition of "Royals" was recorded live for KCRW's radio programme Morning Becomes Eclectic. In New Zealand, she made her stage debut at a small venue in Auckland for a small select audience. On 18 September, Lorde made her television debut on New Zealander 3rd Degree, and was interviewed by journalist Samantha Hayes the same day. The singer made her debut in the United Kingdom on the BBC program Later... with Jools Holland; she also played the song at Madame Jojo's nightclub in London that day.
Lorde made her US television debut singing "Royals" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on 1 October 2013 backed by a keyboardist and a drummer. Her performance was met with positive reviews. She later sang the song on the VH1 television show Big Morning Buzz Live on 4 October 2013. Lorde performed "Royals" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and opened the 2013 New Zealand Music Awards with the song. She later performed it on the radio programme Q in Canada along with "Buzzcut Season". Days later, the singer appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and introduced "Royals" and other tracks from her repertoire.
In early 2014, Lorde was a performer at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. She sang "Royals" during the ceremony, but with some changes to its instrumentation. The presentation, which featured projections of statues behind the singer, was praised by the media and personalities such as Mac Miller and model Chrissy Teigen, and made Lorde the most talked about artist on social networks during the ceremony. At the 2014 BRIT Awards, she performed an electro version of "Royals" with Disclosure, which transitioned into their song "White Noise" featuring AlunaGeorge. The BRIT Awards released the "Royals/White Noise" performance at the iTunes Stores on 19 February 2014; proceeds from its sales went to the charity War Child. It debuted at number 72 on the UK Singles Chart. In April, Lorde appeared for the first time in Brazil at the Lollapalooza festival and included "Royals" on her set list. G1 portal held a poll days later with festival participants and readers of the site. Her "Royals" performance was voted "the 2014 festival success", with the approval of 37% of respondents. The song was also added to the repertoire of the album's promotional tour.

Covers and media usage

Other artists have recorded or performed versions of "Royals". In August 2013, Selena Gomez performed a cover during her Stars Dance Tour appearance in Vancouver, Canada. American singer Jason Derulo performed an R&B-style version on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in December 2013.
Bruce Springsteen performed an acoustic cover of "Royals" in April 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand during his High Hopes Tour. Lorde responded to it, commenting: "It's so exciting, it's a great honor, Springsteen is a fantastic songwriter, I was a little touched, it's really cool, it's crazy when someone like him is playing your song." American spoof-folk duo Black Simon & Garfunkel performed a cover of the song on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, which Esquire considered the best cover of the song by any artist. "Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a parody of the song titled "Foil" for his album Mandatory Fun. Its music video was released online on 16 July 2014. Capital FM described the work as "equally strange and brilliant".
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio used "Royals" at his victory speech in Brooklyn in November 2013. According to The New York Times, the song was chosen because it dealt with social class inequality, one of de Blasio's main campaign themes. Samsung used the track in a commercial for the Galaxy Note 3. The satirical CBC TV programme This Hour Has 22 Minutes used "Royals" as the basis of a parody on the Canadian Senate expenses scandal.
The song was used in the first episode of the fifth season of The CW television series The Vampire Diaries, the third episode of the third season of Revenge, and in the season three premiere of Suburgatory. A classical rendition of the song was used in a scene during episode 18 of the TV series Reign. In 2014, "Royals" was featured in the rhythm game , and The Crew video game played on the fictional 8-Radio. A remix of the song, with new lyrics, called "Loyal", performed by Demarco, is in the re-released version of Grand Theft Auto V.
Novelty act Puddles Pity Party, played by singer Mike Geier, created a cover for Halloween in 2013. Lorde called it her favorite cover of the song at the time.

Impact

Lorde was considered one of the most popular personalities of 2013. Many analysts emphasised the acclaim the song earned despite receiving minimal promotion when it started to attract an audience. Other publications commented that it was unforeseen that a song with a strong critical view, performed by someone at a young age, with underground status, led many of music's most popular charts and garnered international acclaim.
"Royals" has been credited with changing the pop music landscape because of its take on common modern pop themes. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph, said that "Royals" contained a "solid letter between expressionless cynicism and pleasure in its own disenchantment", which "serves as a riposte to hip-hop's lyrical clichés, elegantly skewering the long prevailing culture of bling, ego and excess". He called Lorde the "pin-up of self-generation." Other journalists echoed McCormick's opinion, describing the song as an anthem for the "millennial generation". Her lyrics were described as "anti-luxury" and Lorde as a "counterculture" artist.
"Royals" is credited with influencing other artists and is noted for popularizing "whisperpop", a term coined by Peter Robinson defined as "deceptively understated, intricate vocal performances" in vocalists. The melodic styles and lyrics of artists such as Alessia Cara, Banks, Bea Miller, Billie Eilish, Daya, Halsey, Kiiara, Melanie Martinez, Selena Gomez, Tove Lo and Troye Sivan as well as Taylor Swift's work on 1989 and Reputation have all been compared to Lorde. An unnamed source interviewed by The Guardian said, "When I was signed it was just after Lorde too, so labels were wanking over trying to get loads of girls who were like her."
Forbes writer Nick Messitte said that "Royals" success helped the re-release Tove Lo's song "Habits " become a top five hit in the United States. Messitte writes "the marketplace primed and ready for a record like this to take hold of our earbuds". The success of "Royals" indicated that "the smart money on change" to find a new sound in the pop landscape. Messitte felt that Lorde changed the way contemporary pop music is viewed. David Bowie called her "the future of music", and Dave Grohl, lead singer of Foo Fighters, described "Royals" as revolutionary.

Track listings

  1. "Royals" – 3:09
  1. "Royals" – 3:10
  2. "400 Lux" – 3:54
  1. "Royals" – 3:10
  2. "Tennis Court" – 3:18
  1. "Royals" – 3:09
  2. "Bravado" – 3:41
  1. "Royals/White Noise" – 4:59

    Charts

Weekly charts

Royals/White Noise (Live from the BRITs)

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 83
Belgium 69
Belgium 40
Canada 35
Germany 98
Italy 64
Japan 92
Netherlands 83
Romania 46
Slovenia 43
Spain Streaming 62
Sweden 61
Switzerland 67
UK Singles 98
US Billboard Hot 10020
US Hot Rock Songs 3
US Adult Top 40 37
US Adult Contemporary 15
US Rhythmic 46

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

Citations