First Posted: 1/6/2014
Lorde sat down with “The Ralphie Show” late last year, right as her hit “Royals” was about to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. At the time, she already began a unique practice for anyone in the music industry, but especially someone of her age: at just 16, Lorde did not hesitate to exercise full control over her art and how it was portrayed in the media. Despite the song not yet reaching the top of the chart, she already received and declined numerous opportunities to license the song and generate more revenue for herself through publishing.
Simply put, Lorde did the one thing few artists know how to do – say no.
“I think I just care so much about what I do, and it’s like a child: I know what’s best for it,” she told me back in October. “I just have its best interests at heart all the time, I guess, so I’m quite protective of kind of making sure that (my art) stays pure.”
That purity comes with a price. In a more recent interview with the New York Times, the now 17-year-old estimated how much she has lost by saying no.
“I would like to think that my public persona comes naturally to me and isn’t that dissimilar to my real way of doing things,” she said to the Times. “I’ve turned down easily 10s of millions of dollars doing what I do and saying no to things that I think are corny.”
Lorde’s perspective on how her art should be portrayed isn’t the only caveat that makes the teenager unique.
“It’s nuts,” the singer, nee Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor, said on “The Ralphie Show” about simply appearing on the cover of Billboard Magazine, let alone topping its Hot 100 chart. At the time, she had yet to tweet anything about the cover. “Yeah, I dunno. I don’t want to clog people’s feeds too much.”
Back in October, Lorde had about 400,000 Twitter followers. Since, she almost doubled that total. The “Team” singer is still selective about her self-promotion, yet has no problem sending out other messages and photos. She recently uploaded a string of reptiles dressed in holiday attire. Some of the pictures received over 5,000 retweets.
To each their own fantasy.
KE$HA ENTERS REHAB FOR EATING DISORDER
Singer Ke$ha has entered a rehab facility near Chicago for an eating disorder. TMZ broke the story.
“I’m a crusader for being yourself and loving yourself but I’ve found it hard to practice,” the “Timber” singer said in a statement. “I’ll be unavailable for the next 30 days, seeking treatment for my eating disorder… to learn to love myself again. Exactly as I am.”
According to TMZ, Ke$ha entered herself into Timberline Knolls, where Demi Lovato also received treatment.
Sources are speculating that some in Ke$ha’s camp blame songwriter/producer Dr. Luke for her self-image issues. Luke, whose discography includes many major hits for everyone from Katy Perry to Pink, has not responded to the reports.
On New Year’s Day, Ke$ha released the music video for “Dirty Love” off her latest album, “Warrior.”
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