Lorde likely didn’t expect a crowd of thousands when she sent a message exclusively to fans in New York, telling them to meet her in the park on Tuesday night (22 April).
At 4 pm EDT, the Royals singer sent a message that read: “Meet me in the park. Tonight 7 pm.”
Going off her latest TikTok video being filmed in Washington Square Park, New York, fans made their way to the spot and waited for Lorde to arrive.
While fans waited, they sang songs including Ribs and Supercut. At one point, Dev Hynes of Blood Orange fame and one of the singer’s collaborators appeared—and played Lorde’s forthcoming single, What Was That, from speakers.
However fun the sing-alongs were, Lorde took to her Instagram Stories, and in a since-deleted post shared by the X (formerly known as Twitter) account Lorde Updates, she revealed that police allegedly shut down the pop-up event.
“Omg @thepark the cops are shutting us down,” the singer wrote. “I am truly amazed by how many of you showed up! But they’re telling me you gotta disperse… I’m so sorry.”
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Fans didn’t believe that Lorde would arrive, but she did – at approximately 9:30 pm ET, and also played What Was That for fans.
You can view footage of the surprise event below.
Last week, Lorde hyped up her new single, revealing that it’s set to be released “soon.”
Checking in with fans, she traded her usual sending out of newsletters in favour of a texting service. In a new message to fans, she wrote:
I just wanted to say hi because everything is about to change and these are really the last moments where it’s just us, which is crazy but so right.
I’m so ready. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to say that, but I am. I’m so thankful for your patience. I’ve felt your love, I’ve felt you right there. This is gonna be crazy, you have no idea.
