Happy 21st Lorde!

Jacinda Ardern and Sam Hayes tell tales on Ella Yelich-O’Connor

Lorde was 16 when I met her – Royals had just been released online but at that point there wasn’t one public photo of her.

In the months that followed, as we tracked her meteoric rise, I was constantly surprised by her confidence.

In rooms filled with adults, Ella would make the decisions and stick with them. During her first New Zealand TV interview she told me she had no regrets turning down an offer to tour the world as Katy Perry’s support act. It would have been a massive springboard for any musician – and this came well before the Grammy Awards – but she knew it wasn’t right and quickly moved on in her own direction.

Around the same time that we were filming her first performance on stage as Lorde, she arrived at the Auckland venue looking every bit the schoolgirl she was in knee-high socks and a backpack slung over her shoulder. Something that wasn’t in our story has stuck with me: she wasn’t happy with the stage backdrop and wanted the image to be taken down.

The roadies didn’t think that was possible, telling her Galatos had that same image there for every other act. I watched on as Ella maintained her position, a calm insistence, she didn’t feel it was right. By the time she took to the stage later that night it was gone. The roadies had found a way to cover it for her.

She’s had that confidence and determination from the beginning and yet at times we also saw the 16-year-old, the kid stoked to be out of school and in the recording studio, a kid hardly believing she’s doing what she loves.

It may have looked like Ella’s success happened overnight but it didn’t, she worked away at it for years and somehow she’s known exactly what she was doing the entire time. I love seeing her continued success and I’m still a big fan.

‘She’s had that confidence, determination and decisiveness from the beginning and yet at times we also saw the 16-year-old, the kid stoked to be out of school and in the recording studio, a kid hardly believing she’s doing what she loves.’ Samantha Hayes

In a nod to her beginnings on Auckland’s North Shore, Lorde has handpicked seven Kiwi artists to open for her during her New Zealand tour, beginning with Wellington band Mermaidens on Tuesday. There’s also Yumi Zouma, French For Rabbits (Christchurch’s...

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GETTY IMAGES Lorde with English musicians James Bay and Ellie Goulding, and US model Karlie Klossat the BRIT Awards afterparty in February last year.

Samantha Hayes recalls Lorde at 16 showing confidence beyond her years.