NEWS
Lorde called her friends Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and Gracie Abrams live on the radio – and managed to catch one of them mid-hangover.
While appearing on BBC Radio 1, the singer played a game of ‘Sitting or Standing’, where she had to call friends and guess if they were on their feet or sitting down at the time of answering.
Lorde called up Abrams first, who was confused upon picking up. “I’m standing, should I sit?” Abrams answered in a perplexed tone after Lorde guessed she would be sitting.
Roan was the next to be surprised with a phone call, and Lorde guessed incorrectly again. “I’m so sorry, I’m on Radio 1, I’m doing this horrible show where they make me ask this ridiculous question,” the New Zealand musician said. “Wait, so is this on the radio?” Roan asked.
Last to get phoned was Charli XCX, who responded: “What is happening? I’m lying down.”
Charli XCX then admitted to being hungover, as Lorde laughs along with her: “I’m so hungover. Oh, hi, everyone. I can’t believe I’m on the radio like this.”
Last year, Lorde and Charli XCX squashed their beef and reignited their friendship in the ‘Girl, so confusing’ remix, which came out as part of Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ remix album. The reworked song first came around when Charli admitted Lorde served as partial inspiration for the original lyrics, saying she was “super jealous” of her song ‘Royals’ and its success.
This jealousy is what inspired the song’s pre-chorus: “People say we’re alike / They say we’ve got the same hair / We talk about making music / But I don’t know if it’s honest”.
A few weeks after the release of ‘Brat’, Charli unveiled a new version of the track, this time featuring Lorde. The track would feature a memorable verse from Lorde, who opened with: “Well, honestly, I was speechless / When I woke up to your voice note / You told me how you’d been feeling / Let’s work it out on the remix”.
Charli then said the remix was actually Lorde’s idea, recalling: “The day before the record came out, I left her a voice note. [Lorde] replied straight away and was like, ‘Oh, my God, I had no idea you felt this way. I’m so sorry.’ And then was like, ‘You know, maybe I should be on a version of the song.’ I didn’t even ask her. She brought it up.
“So much of this rollout was planned, but sometimes it was not,” she concluded. “Lorde’s remix of ‘Girl, so confusing’ is a perfect example. That wasn’t planned. It took three days total.”
In response, Lorde called working with Charli “such a huge honour”, adding: “I love that we truly did work it out on the remix. There’s something very brat about that, something very meta and modern. Only Charli could make that happen.”
Lorde is set to embark on her UK, European and North American ‘Ultrasound’ tour later this year. She recently promised fans that the forthcoming gigs “could be our masterpiece”.
Special guests on the tour will include The Japanese House, Nilüfer Yanya, Chanel Beads, Empress Of and Oklou, as well as Blood Orange – with Devonte Hynes featuring on the album – and co-producer Jim-E Stack. Visit here for North American tickets and more information, and here for any remaining tickets and details for UK and European dates.
Metallica bassist Jason Newsted says he is now “free and clear” after facing throat cancer.
The 63 year old musician, who played with the Enter Sandman legends from 1986 through 2001, has shared details of his diagnosis publicly for the first time. He explained that doctors discovered it early, and on May 8, 2025 he “underwent a procedure” to treat the condition.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, he said: “They took a bunch of s*** outta here and then they went in with lasers this way and took a bunch of s*** out.
“So the cavern inside my head is different than it was, but we got it early. And I got my ‘free and clear’ about three weeks ago. So I beat it.”
Jason contributed to several of Metallica’s most iconic releases, including 1988’s ...And Justice For All, their self titled 1991 album, 1996’s Load, the 1997 follow up Reload, and 1998’s Garage Inc.
After going through his cancer experience, the bassist made a point to slow down and actually give himself time to recover instead of constantly pushing forward.
He explained: “I promised myself I was going to rest, and that was the first time I’ve done that in my life.
"I’m usually just on or off. And so I promised myself I was gonna take the gravity off and lay down for the right amount of hours."
The health scare also led Jason to give up smoking weed and drinking alcohol, something he admits he likely would not have done otherwise.
He added: “The great spirit got my attention and said, ‘That’s not good right now, man.’ And so it pulled me off it.
"And so now I’m more clear-headed than I’ve been in my entire adult life. And so there’s blessings within everything. The lemonade I’m making this summer, bro — mm. Sweet. Ooh.”
Jason has previously said that his unexpected departure ultimately helped Metallica continue moving forward, while James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich later admitted they struggled to process his decision at the time.
Lars told Apple Music in 2021: “Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly. And that in itself is a statistic.
"And the resentment from James and I was just so… 'You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave'.
"And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving. So of course, now you can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense.”
