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San Francisco Bans Lorde’s ‘Royals’

Until the World Series is over.

Multiple San Francisco radio stations are refusing to play Lorde’s “Royals” as a show of support for their hometown team. The San Francisco Giants will play the Kansas City Royals in the World Series, which starts Tuesday. The song is blacklisted on local 104.5 KFOG and 96.5 KOIT until, the stations hope, the Giants win the World Series. “Why send any positive vibes to Kansas City?” said KFOG program director Jim Richards. “Why not give the song a rest? No one is going to get hurt over it.” The radio ban on “Royals” is not completely unfounded. Lorde admitted that part of her inspiration for writing the hit song came from seeing a photo of 1980s’ Royals third baseman and Hall of Famer George Brett signing autographs. She described him as a “dude just signing baseballs,” but she thought the word ‘royals’ on his uniform was “really cool.”