Lorde's Bowie tribute praised by fans, but David pretty much handpicked her to do the performance

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard and watched Lorde's tribute to the legendary David Bowie at the Brit Awards in London on Wednesday, and joined in the chorus of praise for the New Zealand teen's performance.

The tribute began with speeches by Annie Lennox and the pop star's close friend Gary Oldman, and ended with Lorde's -- whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor -- simple cover of Bowie's "Life on Mars", which was released on the 1971 album "Hunky Dory". Her captivating take on the song, which was elevated by her vocals, the band and the screen behind her, won her praise from fans, who seemed to like it better than Lady Gaga's 10-song tribute at the Grammy's a week earlier. Even Bowie's son Duncan Jones was moved.

Although she nailed her performance, Lorde looked overwhelmed at the end of the tribute and shared on social media the following day that she was nervous before taking to the stage.

Lorde had previously written about Bowie's impact on her life via a note she shared shortly after his death in January, about her first meeting with the pop singer at a Vogue benefit honouring Tilda Swinton:

"That night something changed in me - i felt a calmness grow, a sureness. I think in those brief moments, he heralded me into my next new life, an old rock and roll alien angel in a perfect grey suit. I realized everything I’d ever done, or would do from then on, would be done like maybe he was watching. I realized I was proud of my spiky strangeness because he had been proud of his. And I know I'm never going to stop learning dances, brand new dances."

The Kiwi native also mentioned in a 2014 interview with Rookie that she could "creatively die and just be happy forever" after she met David Bowie.

However, the admiration and respect Lorde had for Bowie wasn't unrequited, with the British pop star believing that Lorde was the next big thing.

"David asked to see Lorde after Tilda Swinton’s birthday party where she played," Bowie’s musical director and friend Gerry Leonard told #Trending following Lorde's tribute performance. "He said she was the future of music; a huge compliment. David was already a tastemaker and loved to know what the new music was going."

Leonard went on the explain that when the Brit Awards' tribute was planned and the band chosen, Lorde was the vocalist the team wanted:

"[David Bowie] liked to stay current. He also had a razor eye for that too.

"It wasn’t that he liked everything, by no means, but he really liked Lorde so that immediately felt like a good match. Again, it was something that David had commented on.”

Watch the full Bowie tribute at The BRITs 2016 in the video below: