Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Royals’ Cover Made Lorde ‘Teary’

Lorde. Photo: Garth Badger

Lorde got misty when she heard that Bruce Springsteen performed a suitably Springsteen-y acoustic rendition of her Number One hit “Royals” at a concert in Auckland, New Zealand last week. She learned of the cover while on the Austin date of her current tour. “My Twitter went mental. Everyone in New Zealand was like ”˜You can’t believe what just happened!’,” the 17-year-old singer told News.com.au. “It was so exciting. It was the highest honor. He’s such an incredible songwriter. I got a little teary. It was very cool.”

“It’s crazy when someone like that is covering your song,” she added. “Those words were nothing before I put them into my laptop and started messing around with them in the studio. It’s crazy to me they could come out of someone’s mouth who is that respected.”

She also commented on how that same weekend, her album Pure Heroine surpassed the 1 million-units-sold mark. “How mental is that, right?,” she said. “I was pretty pumped.” Pure Heroine is the first debut record by a female artist to sell a million copies since 2011, according to Billboard.

As for Springsteen, he has been touring Australia and New Zealand of late and has been doing unique cover songs at each stop. He kicked off his Perth show with a hellacious take on AC/DC”˜s “Highway to Hell.” He treated Sydney to a rendition of INXS’ “Don’t Change.” And at his final Australian gig in Brisbane with a surprising version of the Bee Gees”˜Â “Stayin’ Alive.”

Later this month, he’ll return to the States where he will participate in the free March Madness Festival in North Texas. And in April, he’ll release four new songs on a Record Store Day EP titled American Beauty.