Wanna feel olde: Lorde is 28.
We first were made aware of her when she was 16.
That's right, "Royals," has been around for that long.
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor was born in the New Zealand suburb of Auckland called Takapuna. Her father is of Irish decent while her mother has Croatian heritage.
Lorde has three siblings, one older brother, a younger brother who shares her birthday and a younger sister.
Her 2013 debut Pure Heroine, sold millions of copies and won two Grammys.
One of those trophies was for Song of the Year where she beat out Katy Perry, Macklemore, Bruno Mars, and P!nk.
Not bad for a song that was inspired by seeing baseball hall of famer, George Brett, of the Kansas City Royals, in a photo in a magazine.
But even more interesting to some is she is one of the small group of humans who can see music. Not notes on a page, but colors in the air.
The phenomenon is called synesthesia and it affects less than 5% of the population. Naturally many of those who have this superpower are some of your favorite artists.
“I see music. It’s more than just what I hear," Beyoncé said in a press release when she dropped her eponymous fifth album in 2013.
"When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.”
Lorde told the NY Times, “from the moment I start something, I can see the finished song, even if it's far off and foggy. It’s just a matter of finding that color.”
Neurologist Dr. David Eagleman, an expert in synesthesia, writes, "for synesthetes, it can offer an expanded perception of the world that enhances creativity by making abstract connections more accessible.”
Marina Diamandis, formerly of Marina and the Diamonds and now just MARINA, said her music "usually only expresses itself in color association but I do smell strange scents out of the blue for no reason.”
In her book Piece by Piece , Tori Amos explained how tunes first come to her as colors. “The song appears as light filament once I’ve cracked it," she wrote. "I’ve never seen a duplicated song structure. I’ve never seen the same light creature in my life. Obviously similar chord progressions follow similar light patterns, but try to imagine the best kaleidoscope ever.”
Charli XCX said, "I see music in colors. I love music that’s black, pink, purple or red—but I hate music that’s green, yellow or brown."
In the Duke Ellington biography, Sweet Man: The Real Duke Ellington, the great composer and bandleader is quoted as saying, “I hear a note by one of the fellows in the band and it’s one color. I hear the same note played by someone else and it’s a different color. When I hear sustained musical tones, I see just about the same colors that you do, but I see them in textures. If Harry Carney is playing, D is dark blue burlap. If Johnny Hodges is playing, G becomes light blue satin.”
So the next time you spot Lorde out and about or in the airport, sing her a little song and ask her what colors she saw. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Lorde has no tour dates listed on her website, but you should go there and sign up for her email list so when she does announce them you'll be the first to know.
