In what has to be one of the most bizarre pop cultural mash-ups of all time, teen pop sensation Lorde invited George Brett — the 60-year-old former Kansas City Royals slugger who inspired her hit song “Royals” — to hang with her in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
We also hear her team had some bizarre requests at the gig because they were afraid fans might pelt her with beer cans.
Lorde has reportedly said she penned her hit after seeing a National Geographic photo of Brett wearing his 1976 Royals jersey. The New Zealand singer had no idea who the Hall of Famer was, but has said, “His shirt said ‘Royals.’ It was just that word. It’s really cool.”
Brett missed Lorde’s Kansas City tour date March 21, but sent her a jersey autographed, “Lorde, you are Royal to me.” Her team then invited him to her Las Vegas show at the Cosmopolitan’s Boulevard Pool on Tuesday, where the two posed for pictures backstage.
Vegas spies further told Page Six that Lorde’s team had some unusual requests behind the scenes, which included insisting that the venue not sell any canned beer because “they were afraid fans were going to throw them at her onstage” (kind of like when the Blues Brothers played Bob’s Country Bunker in the 1980 film and had to play behind chicken wire).
Our source added that Lorde’s people insisted the venue not broadcast her show on its jumbo marquee facing the Strip — as it usually does for live gigs — “because of her acne.” Then again, Lorde has posted photos of her un-retouched skin with the caption, “Flaws are OK.”
Her rep said of her cosmopolitan demands, “This is not true at all but thank you for checking.”
We hear that at the show, Brett, “was very casual watched the show with a small group from a VIP cabana.”