Royals (song)

Royals
Lorde
publication	3rd June 2013
length	3:10
Genre (s)	Electro pop
Author (s)	Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor , Joel Little
Label	Universal Music Group , Lava Records, Republic Records
Award (s)	Grammy Awards 2014 : Grammy Award for Song of the Year Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance
album	The Love Club EP, Pure Heroine

Royals is a song by New Zealand singer Lorde and originally appeared on her debut EP The Love Club EP . At the Grammy Awards 2014 Royals won a Grammy in the categories Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance and was also nominated in the Record of the Year category. According to sources , Royals has been sold over 10 million times worldwide.

background

Lorde was discovered by Universal Music Group's A&R employee Scott MacLachlan at the age of 12 when MacLachlan saw footage of Lorde's performance at a school talent chow in Auckland . At the age of 13, Lorde began to write songs himself. MacLachlan tried unsuccessfully to introduce Lorde to various songwriters and music producers to help her produce her songs. In December 2011, when Lorde turned 15, she met the New Zealand music producer Joel Little. Little was impressed with Lorde's voice and songwriting skills, and produced songs that matched Lorde's voice.

Musical and content

Photo of baseball player George Brett, which inspired Lorde to write the song Royals.
Ted Spiegel ,
Link to the picture (please note copyrights )

Lorde wrote the text for Royals in July 2012 in her parents' house within half an hour. Lorde and Jason Little recorded some songs, including Royals , at Little's Golden Age Studios in Auckland . The recording was completed within a week, Lorde did so during her school holidays. Lorde came up with the idea of ​​writing a song about the luxury of musicians after seeing a photo by photographer Ted Spiegels with Kansas City Royals player George Brett Baseballs signing and his team's name ( Royals ) on his jersey.

Royals was produced using Pro Tools software . Various print media classify royals as art pop , minimal pop or electro pop . Royals is written in G major with a Mixolydian mode and has a moderate tempo of 85 beats per minute . The chord progression is I-bVII-IV (D - C - G). Lorde's vocal range is in the mezzo-soprano range and ranges from F ♯ ₃ to A ♯ ₄ . Royals' lyrics are about the luxurious lifestyle of contemporary artists.

Reviews

Royals was positively received by critics. Anne Nussbaum from Laut.de described the song as “not even (as) the most exciting piece” on Lorde's album Pure Heroine , “but it is precisely the simplicity in structure and equipment that exerts an undeniable fascination that runs through the entire oeuvre” Critic continues. For Natalie Cada from Plattentests.de , Lorde sounds in Royals “initially like a very young Amy Winehouse with a lot of soul and rock in her blood. But just a few bars later the voice rises again and tells […] of girls' fantasies without mincing words. ”Lewis Corner from Digital Spy gave the song 5 out of 5 stars and wrote that Royals "An addicting hookline" that "thrives on the simplicity of the song."

Commercial win

Royals achieved high chart positions worldwide. In Lorde's homeland New Zealand, the song reached the top position on March 15, 2013 and was able to hold onto this for three weeks. In the United States , Royals reached # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 3, 2013 . Lorde, then 16 years old, is the youngest solo artist to reach the top of these charts since US singer Tiffany 1987. She is also the first New Zealand artist to reach number 1 as lead artist in the United States. Royals spent a total of nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the fifth best-selling song in the United States in 2013 and the best-selling song by a female artist that year. By April 2014, Royals had sold 5.5 million times in the United States.

In Germany, Royals entered the single charts on October 4, 2013 and was able to advance to number 8. In total, the song spent 6 weeks in the top 10. For over 300,000 copies sold, the single was awarded a platinum record . In Austria, Royals narrowly missed the top position and reached second place. In Switzerland, they also achieved a high ranking in the form of third place. On October 28, 2013, the song went straight to number 1 in the UK singles chart . Further number one placements were achieved in Belgium and Italy .

Cover versions

The song was played twice by Bruce Springsteen at his concerts in Auckland, New Zealand in 2014 .

The American post-hardcore band Youth in Revolt covered the song as part of the punk-goes-pop compilation.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	8th (33 weeks)	33
New Zealand (RMNZ)	1 (51 weeks)	51
Austria (Ö3)	2 (27 weeks)	27
Switzerland (IFPI)	3 (31 weeks)	31
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (34 weeks)	34
United States (Billboard)	1 (44 weeks)	44

Awards for music sales

Royals has been awarded 3 × gold , 27 × platinum and 1 × diamond worldwide. According to the awards, the single was sold twelve million times. According to sources , Royals has sold over 10,000,000 times worldwide.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Belgium (BEA)	gold	15,000
Germany (BVMI)	3 × gold	450,000
Denmark (IFPI)	platinum	1,800,000 (streaming)
Italy (FIMI)	2 × platinum	60,000
Canada (MC)	7 × platinum	560,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	6 × platinum	90,000
Norway (IFPI)	5 × platinum	50,000
Sweden (IFPI)	4 × platinum	160,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	gold	15,000
United States (RIAA)	diamond	10,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	600,000
All in all	3 × gold 27 × platinum 1 × diamond	12,000,000

Main article: Lorde / Music Sales Awards

Formats

Download

1. Royals  - 3:09

CD single

1. Royals  - 3:09
2. Bravado  - 3:41

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Matt Nippert: Birthday girl Lorde's earnings estimated at $ 11m-plus. In: The New Zealand Herald . November 7, 2014, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Interview with SCOTT MACLACHLAN, manager for Lorde. In: Hitquarters.com. January 24, 2014, accessed January 9, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Jason Lipshutz: Lorde Q&A: New Zealand Star On Next Single, Nicki Minaj & Staying Mysterious. In: Billboard . September 10, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
4. ^ Lydia Jenkin: Joel Little: Doing the Lorde's work. In: The New Zealand Herald . September 19, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Lorde - Lyrical Influences. Lorde via Youtube , accessed March 9, 2015 . 
6. ^ Robert Tighe: The year of our Lorde. In: The Red Bulletin, December 2013 / January 2014 edition. Retrieved March 9, 2015 . 
7. ↑ SPIN's 50 Best songs of 2013. In: Spin . Retrieved March 9, 2015 . 
8. ↑ Michelle Geslani: Lists: Raekwon remixes Lorde's "Royals". In: Consequence of Sound. November 5, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
9. ↑ James Lachno: Lorde - New Music. In: The Telegraph . September 11, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
10. ^ Lorde 'Royals' Sheet Music. Musicnotes.com, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
11. ^ Anne Nussbaum: Watty dreamy electro pop with dubstep and R'n'B influences. In: Laut.de . Retrieved March 9, 2015 . 
12. ↑ Natalie Cada: Love, Life, Teeth Whitening. In: Plattentests.de . Retrieved March 9, 2015 . 
13. ^ Lewis Corner: Lorde: 'Royals' - Single review. In: Digital Spy . September 18, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
14. ^ Gary Trust: Lorde's 'Royals' Crowns Hot 100. In: Billboard . October 2, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
15. ^ Hayden Donnell: Lorde hits number one in the US. In: The New Zealand Herald . October 3, 2013, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
16. ↑ Paul Grein: Chart Watch: The Top 10 Albums and Songs of 2013. Yahoo , January 2, 2014, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
17. ^ Paul Grein: Chart Watch: "Happy" Peaked But It's Still Potent. Yahoo , April 9, 2014, accessed March 9, 2015 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US NZ