After A Heart Attack In Lorde's Family, She delays Her Album

At just 22 years old, Lorde (whose real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor) has already become one of the world's most successful singers, selling over five million albums worldwide. However, fans will have to wait a little longer as production on her third album has been halted as Lorde deals with a heartbreaking bereavement.

This week, Lorde opened up to her fans online in an emotional note which revealed that her beloved dog Pearl has recently passed away. The young dog was already suffering from health problems when Lorde became his owner in 2018, but his death has been a heartbreaking blow as vets believed he could pull through.

In a message to fans, Lorde wrote: 'One day we woke up and I knew, in that way mothers do, that he was sicker than we had realized, and that we were nearing a point where his body wasn’t going to be able to cope.'

She continued: 'Pearl had two cardiac arrests about an hour apart, and after the second one, he died. I was holding him when he went, and I knew he knew that I was there. But this loss has been indescribably painful, and a light that was turned on for me has gone out.'

Describing Pearl as 'instrumental' to her creative process, Lorde announced that she was temporarily halting work on her next album, which she said would not 'be the same work' following her loss.