Charli XCX admits being “super jealous” of Lorde’s ‘Royals’ success
Charli XCX has opened up about her reasons for being “super jealous” of Lorde’s ‘Royals’ success.
In a new profile with Rolling Stone, the pop star elaborated on comments she had made accepting her Powerhouse Award at Billboard Women In Music 2024. There, she opened up about the “headfuck” of being a woman in music, and the taboo of jealousy amongst women.
“Being jealous is somehow wrongly equated to not supporting women or not being a girl’s girl, which isn’t true,” she told Rolling Stone. “You can, I think, experience envy and still be a good person who champions other women. Jealousy is just not a very sexy feeling, or a sexy characteristic really, is it?”
When asked what female star she was most jealous of, the singer pointed towards Lorde’s success. Ironically, Charli was mistaken for the ‘Royals’ singer in an old interview, which has now become a meme amongst fans.
“When ‘Royals’ came out, I was super jealous of the success that that song got, and that Ella got,” Charli began. “You piece all this stuff together in your brain, like: ‘She was into my music. She had big hair; I had big hair. She wore black lipstick; I once wore black lipstick.’ You create these parallels and think, ‘Well, that could have been me.’ But it couldn’t have because we’re completely different people.
“I wasn’t making music that sounded anything like ‘Royals’,” she continued. “I think you just read what you want into it because you’re feeling insecure about your own work.”
Charli says she and Lorde remain good friends, with the singer adding: “You get over it and then you try to figure out all the things that are unique about you and you pursue that, and then probably in five months’ time you have a breakdown about something else.”
The singer shared an anecdote about Lorde in NME‘s interview with her in 2022, with the two musicians coming close to dressing as each other for Halloween.
“I didn’t want it to seem like I was trolling, so I actually texted Lorde. And I was like, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about being you for Halloween, it’s all a good vibe, how do you feel about it?’” she recalled. “And she was like, ‘Yeah, great. I’ll just be you.’
“Then we both realised we’re as lazy as each other when it comes to putting effort into Halloween. We’ll just park the idea for a year when we can be bothered, but the thought was there. It’s definitely a break the internet moment.”
The singer is due to release her new album ‘Brat‘ on June 7. Speaking to NME at the BRITs this year, she teased the album is “kind of bitchy and gossipy and hardcore and very club feeling. It’s definitely one for the girls who like to party and sweat and rave.”
So far, Charli XCX has previewed the songs ‘Von Dutch‘, ‘Club Classics’, ‘b2b‘ and ‘360‘ (along with a star-studded video for the latter).
She will be heading on tour later this year for her biggest UK headline dates to celebrate the album with special guest Shygirl. Kicking off at Manchester’s Co-op Live on November 27, Charli will move on to London’s The O2 on November 28 and Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena on November 29, before wrapping in Glasgow’s OVO Hydro Arena on December 2. Get any remaining tickets here.
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Alex Rigotti
NME
