Watch Lorde Cover Bruce Springsteen With Marlon Williams

Lorde and Marlon Williams joined forces at a concert in Auckland to cover Bruce Springsteen’s “Tougher Than the Rest.” Appearing at the Hollywood Avondale in Aukland, New Zealand, Lorde and Williams performed the Boss’ 1987 hit in a surprise collaboration.

Williams sold out a four-night run at the venue, and brought Lorde out as his special guest during the final show. The pair played piano and sang together for an intimate rendition of Springsteen’s song.

🥲 @lorde came out of hiding last night to cover @springsteen's 'tougher than the rest' with @marlonwmusic capping off a sold-out run of auckland shows on his current nz tour 🥲 pic.twitter.com/GduhcrC0go

— 💌 Coup De Main ✨ (@coupdemain) March 31, 2021

🎤 VIDEO snippet from tonight – @lorde and @MarlonWMusic’s duet cover of Springsteen’s 'Tougher Than the Rest’ [Source: nickchrisp IG] pic.twitter.com/Tbnn5PsTtj

— Lorde fix 🥀 (@Lorde_fix_media) March 31, 2021

“Tougher Than the Rest” originally appeared on Springsteen’s album Tunnel of Love. In 2014, Springsteen covered Lorde’s hit single “Royals” during a New Zealand concert.

The singer said she got teary when she heard the news, noting in an interview, “It’s crazy when someone like that is covering your song. Those words were nothing before I put them into my laptop and started messing around with them in the studio. It’s crazy to me they could come out of someone’s mouth who is that respected.”

Lorde has also previously covered Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire.” The musician is set to release a book of photos this year from her travels to Antarctica, titled Going South, and she’s hinted that the February 2019 trip also helped inspire new music. Her follow-up to 2017’s Melodrama has yet to be officially announced.