Lorde has laughed off pregnancy rumours after postponing her Australian and New Zealand Solar Power shows until 2023 due to uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whispers that the Kiwi singer could expecting began when she posted an image on her website of a T-shirt adorned with a poem she had written about turning 25.
"One quarter of a century. No longer a wunderkind. Two fine lines on my forehead. No eyebrows would raise if I got pregnant," it read in part.
"Something better's coming up / like a flower / coming up.
"I saw a description of motherhood and other transformative chapters: 'A demolishing, a taking down to the studs. It could make you new. Let it.'"
Those lines, coupled with the news that Lorde had pushed back the dates for her much-anticipated summer tour, sent the rumour mill into overdrive.
"Not happy Lorde, after what we've all been through the last two years I was so excited to have the Solar Power Tour to look forward to! Seriously [in] 2023 the album won't even be relevant then, we're all vaxxed wtf are you pregnant?" one disgruntled fan asked on Twitter.
"LORDE IS PREGNANT AND THAT'S WHY SHE RESCHEDULED HER TOUR?" another panicked tweet read.
In an email to fans about the cancellation, Lorde shut down the gossip, writing: "This is not me being a flake, this is not me being pregnant (you dweebs it was a EUPHEMISM I'M NOT PREGNANT HAHA), this is me and the whole team who planned this tour being no match for a really complex public health situation."
The 'Mood Ring' hitmaker said she felt "physically ill" writing the email to fans, who she was "absolutely devastated to have let down".
"I hope you know how deeply I value your commitment to me as an artist, and the relationships we all have, and I’d NEVER take them for granted. Please know that if there’d been ANY way to avoid this, I would have."
The Grammy Award-winning Kiwi singer was set to tour nine locations in New Zealand and Australia in February and March next year. It was to be the first time she has toured the region since her sold-out Melodrama tour in 2017.
