The Real Reason Lorde Left Social Media
Lorde shot into superstardom in 2013 with the success of her critically acclaimed debut album, Pure Heroine, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. She dutifully gave her fans new music with her No. 1 sophomore album Melodrama in 2017. After her Melodrama World Tour wrapped in 2018, Lorde took a break from the spotlight and headed back to her home country of New Zealand for what fans feel like has been forever.
Lorde has been fairly quiet about her whereabouts, but hinted in 2020 that she does have something in the works and used it as leverage to encourage people to vote in New Zealand's 2020 general election. "We know we live in a special place," she wrote on her Instagram story (per screenshots from Pop Crave), adding that it is important to vote to contribute "all of our voices to the conversation." She then made a bit of a deal with her fans if they voted. "Do it for our beautiful country and for me. And next year I'll give you something in return." This of course excited fans, who rarely hear from Lorde on her social media platforms.
Now, the "Royals" singer has given fans another update, but not one they were expecting. Rather than talking about her new music, she opened up about why she left social media in the first place, which for many artists, is a personal way to connect with fans.
Lorde simply needed a break
Apart from the occasional story, Lorde has not posted on her Instagram page in more than two years. She replied to a concerned fan in 2018, saying "She's a baby writer in search of a legacy... will keep u posted. Love u all so much more than u know," per MTV News. After that, the singer remained almost completely silent.
But in a November 2020 chat with Interview magazine, Lorde finally gave fans insight into her absence and revealed two things that made her "peace out" from the internet. In addition to feeling like she was losing her "free will" (which may be due to an uproar she accidentally caused after posting a photo that many called insensitive, as per The Hollywood Reporter), she was struggling with "the massive amounts of stress" she felt "about our planet, about systemic racism, and about police brutality in this country." The "Green Light" singer also mentioned how social media culture "destroys" the part of her brain "that can make work." She ended her confession by asking the interviewer, "How do you balance needing to have your finger on the pulse while also not going insane?" In short, she needed a break from the hyper connectivity of social media and time to let herself sit with the harsh realities of the world.
At least fans now know Lorde is safe, healthy, and possibly working on some new music. Until then, we can play a "Supercut" of what a world with new Lorde tunes felt like.