Bruce Springsteen surprised fans recently with a cover of Lorde's 'Royals'.

The US icon was performing in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday (March 1) when he whipped out a stripped-back cover of the hit song.

He did so in order to pay homage to the young starlet in her hometown.

Viewers have been left divided by the cover, with one YouTube user commenting: "As a Springsteen fan, I cringed at the title of this video. But I was wrong. It's worse than I imagined."

However, another user then said: "Wow. Some of the people in this comments section need to stop taking yourselves so seriously. Bruce was having fun. The audience (Lorde's home) was having fun. Get over yourselves."

Bruce Springsteen is currently touring in support of his 2014 record 'High Hopes', which reached No.1 across the globe.

Watch the cover below: