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50 free Lorde trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Lorde was 16 when Royals spent nine weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the youngest artist to top the US chart since Tiffany in 1987. The song started on a free SoundCloud EP recorded in three weeks with Joel Little in Auckland, and within a year she had a Song of the Year Grammy, a Hunger Games soundtrack to curate and an invitation to sing with Nirvana at their Hall of Fame induction. These 50 questions follow her from Takapuna to Glastonbury: her real name, her poet mother and Croatian roots, the talent show with Louis McDonald, Pure Heroine and Tennis Court, the Jack Antonoff years of Melodrama and Green Light, the indie-folk turn of Solar Power and its Te Reo Maori companion EP, and the 2025 comeback Virgin with Jim-E Stack. There are also questions on the Bowie tribute at the Brits, the South Park parodies, the Antarctica photo book and why her stage name has an e on the end. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a pop-music quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Lorde's real first name?
Ella
Her full name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor.
Q 02In which year was Lorde born?
1996
She was 16 when Royals topped the US chart.
Q 03Which Lorde single spent nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100?
Royals
It sold 10 million units worldwide and is certified diamond in the US.
Q 04What was the title of Lorde's debut studio album?
Pure Heroine
It was released in September 2013 and sold six million copies by 2021.
Q 05Which producer worked with Lorde on her early material including The Love Club EP?
Joel Little
Little was the former lead singer of Goodnight Nurse.
Q 06On which platform did Lorde self-release The Love Club EP for free in 2012?
SoundCloud
It had been downloaded 60,000 times before UMG released it commercially.
Q 07Which producer co-created Melodrama with Lorde?
Jack Antonoff
Antonoff's band Bleachers got a co-write from her the same year.
Q 08Which 2014 film soundtrack did Lorde curate?
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
She recorded four tracks for it, including Yellow Flicker Beat.
Q 09Lorde's 2021 album Solar Power explored which style?
Indie folk
The acoustic turn split critics, which she later called 'painful'.
Q 10Who co-produced Lorde's fourth album, Virgin?
Jim-E Stack
The record returned to the electropop of her early work.
Q 11How many Grammy Awards has Lorde won?
Two
Both came for Royals: Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Q 12In which Auckland suburb was Lorde born?
Takapuna
She grew up in the North Shore suburbs of Devonport and Bayswater.
Q 13What is Lorde's mother Sonja Yelich's profession?
Poet
Lorde cites her mother as the primary influence on her songwriting.
Q 14Lorde holds dual citizenship with which European country?
Q 21Lorde attended which secondary institution while launching her career?
Takapuna Grammar School
She completed Year 12 and chose not to return for Year 13.
Q 22Lorde was the youngest US number-one artist since which 1987 chart-topper?
Tiffany
Lorde was 16 when Royals reached the top.
Q 23Her debut album won which award for the best NZ album of 2013?
Taite Music Prize
The APRA Silver Scroll went to Royals instead.
Q 24Which single from her debut album reached the top spot at home?
Croatia
Her mother was born to Croatian immigrants from Dalmatia.
Q 15How many siblings does Lorde have?
Three
She is the second of four children: sisters Jerry and India and brother Angelo.
Q 16Which dystopian novel by M. T. Anderson does Lorde cite as a lyrical influence?
Feed
She also names Salinger, Raymond Carver and Janet Frame.
Q 17With which friend did Lorde win her school talent show in 2009?
Louis McDonald
The duo later gigged as 'Ella & Louis' at Auckland cafes.
Q 18Which UMG A&R executive signed the young Lorde for development?
Scott Maclachlan
He received recordings of her covering Mama Do and Warwick Avenue.
Q 19In which literature competition was Lorde's school team a 2009 world runner-up?
Kids' Lit Quiz
The global contest is for students aged 10 to 14.
Q 20How long did Lorde and her producer take to record The Love Club EP?
Three weeks
They worked at Little's Golden Age Studios in Morningside, Auckland.
Tennis Court
Team reached number six in the United States.
Q 25Lorde's Catching Fire soundtrack cover was of which Tears for Fears song?
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
The 2013 film came a year before she curated the Mockingjay soundtrack.
Q 26Lorde's 2013 publishing deal was reportedly worth how much?
US$2.5 million
Songs Music Publishing won a bidding war that included Sony and UMG.
Q 27Lorde sang with the surviving members of which band at their 2014 Hall of Fame induction?
Nirvana
They sang All Apologies; Grohl and Novoselic said her lyrics had 'Nirvana aesthetics'.
Q 28Which Lorde song earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song?
Yellow Flicker Beat
It also won Single of the Year at the 2015 New Zealand Music Awards.
Q 29Whose song Life on Mars did Lorde perform as a tribute at the 2016 Brit Awards?
David Bowie
Bowie's camp chose her because he called her 'the future of music'.
Q 30What was the lead single from Melodrama?
Green Light
NME and The Guardian both named it the best song of 2017.