Lorde opens up about eating disorder: “I was slamming into rock bottom”
In a new interview, New Zealand singer-songwriter and alt-pop star Lorde has opened up about her disordered eating and her “obsession with thinness”.
In a new Rolling Stone interview, the singer divulged many ways in which her eating disorder was impacting her life and career. Around the release date of her 2021 album Solar Power, the star says all she remembers was feeling “so hungry and so weak.”
In 2021, the New Zealander counted calories and monitored her protein intake, a habit she picked up during the Covid-19 pandemic. When she began touring Solar Power, Lorde felt her stage fright dissipate, but the disordered eating remained.
She described the duality of having an immense time touring, while “also looking at the pictures afterwards and feeling deep loathing at the sight of my beautiful, tiny tummy, thinking it was so unforgivable what I had allowed it to become.”
In 2023, her eight-year-long relationship with a Universal Music executive fell apart. She relocated to London during the break-up, where she began speaking with Charli XCX about making music together. However, Lorde kept cancelling on plans, which Charli details in the single Girl, So Confusing, on which Lorde would eventually feature for public discourse about the “war with her body”.
Lorde reflected on this time, noting how Charli wasn’t aware that the Royals singer “was slamming into rock bottom on multiple levels.” At home, she covered her mirrors to avoid looking at her own reflection.
However, Lorde has recently been more comfortable in her body than ever. Recently, she appeared at the Met Gala and explained on the red carpet how her outfit represents her re-evaluation of gender, which has also shaped Virgin.
Lorde’s new album, Virgin, will be released on June 27th. Her last full-length release was the 2021 album Solar Power, which followed on from Melodrama in 2017 and her debut Pure Heroine in 2013.
Lorde also recently announced a world tour in support of the new album that will hit North America, the UK and Europe. The extensive set of dates will see Lorde spend three months on the road alongside support such as Oklou, Blood Orange and Japanese House.
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