Caught up in her love affair: Lorde's 'Royals' video hits 1 billion views on YouTube

Glastonbury Festival 2025 - Day Three Lorde performs during day three of Glastonbury festival 2025 at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 27, 2025 in Glastonbury, England. (Joseph Okpako/WireImage) (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)
By Josh Johnson

Lorde may never be royal, but she is now an official member of YouTube's billion views club thanks to "Royals."

The U.S. video for the New Zealand artist's breakout hit has officially reached the 1 billion views milestone, marking a career-first for Lorde.

The video premiered on YouTube in June 2013, when Lorde was 16 years old. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 months later in October 2013.

"Royals" appears on Lorde's debut album, 2013's Pure Heroine. She's since put out three more albums, 2017's Melodrama, 2021's Solar Power and 2025's Virgin.

Lorde is headlining a number of upcoming U.S. festivals, including Lollapalooza, New Orleans Jazz Fest and Governors Ball.

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