Lorde on how she handled fame at 16: 'I feel quite proud of baby me'

Lorde opened up about her rise to fame in a new interview with the Evening Standard magazine. Photo / Getty Images

Lorde says she's now a pop star because the genre happened to be her favourite when she shot to fame at 16.

In a new interview with the UK's Evening Standard magazine, she reflects that she might not have ended up with a career in making pop music if she hadn't stepped into the spotlight at such a young age.

"I wonder if part of it is because pop happened to be the medium that I was interested in the most when I was 15, you know?" she told the Standard's Richard Godwin.

"I think there are other versions of my life where I am a novelist or a journalist or… a critic, do you know what I mean? But it happened to be the medium that I was interested in as a teenager that took me somewhere."

That medium could have been very different had she chosen to go to university. Now 25, the singer decided to leave school at 16, though she's always been academically gifted.

Speaking to the publication, she joked that "it's a miracle I can read at all" - though she was certified "gifted" at just 6 and won countless awards at school.

Lorde is often hailed as being wise beyond her years for her insightful song lyrics.

"I think in some ways I was wise beyond my years," she told the magazine.

Lorde on growing up in the spotlight: "I feel quite proud of, you know, baby me for how she handled it all."

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"I'm still probably wise beyond my years. It feels about right."

And as always, the singer is not one to take her fame lightly, marvelling at the power she was able to wield at such a young age.

"I didn't finish high school and the social influence I had was unreal. I could have spoken to anyone, you know? Like I could've called anyone on the phone and they probably would've picked up — that's an insane position to be in as a teenager.

"But I think it probably could've gone a lot worse. I feel quite proud of, you know, baby me for how she handled it all.'