Watch a 12-year-old Lorde perform at her New Zealand school

Five years before she won two awards at the 2014 Grammys, Lorde already sounded royally great.

Ella Yelich-O'Connor, as she was then known, was only 12 years old when a talent show performance at her New Zealand school launched her career. A video uploaded in November has the Belmont Intermediate School student singing with her friend Louis McDonald (now in the folk-pop band Five Mile Town) in 2009.

Already looking at home on stage, Lorde's trademark locks cover her face as she warbles impressively through Ritchie Blackmore's classic rock song "Man on the Silver Mountain."

McDonald's dad is partly to thank for Lorde's career. After seeing the Belmont Idol Competition (during which Lorde performed Duffy's "Warwick Avenue"), he sent talent scouts recordings of the teen doing various cover songs. That got Lorde signed to Universal, where she partnered with producer Joel Little, who helped create her hit song "Royals."

Belmont Intermediate School still remains Lorde's biggest fan. Earlier this month, the school congratulated her for winning the Grammys for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance with a message on a board outside the school that read, "We are very proud of you."

In November, the 17-year-old musician returned to her former school to judge the Belmont Idol Competition, Australia's Herald reported.

It's clear that even now, Lorde remains her school's pure heroine.