Lorde spoke out on Twitter today as white nationalists chanting neo-Nazi slogans clashed violently with counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.
She urged "white people" to "do better for the sake of humanity" and made a point to use her voice to acknowledge people of colour and the "unnecessary" and "horrific" mistreatment they endure in the US.
"Being a privileged white non-US citizen, I feel like tweeting to reinforce how horrific POC [people of colour] treatment here is unnecessary and inappropriate," wrote the Kiwi singer.
"I just want to say I'm so, so sorry. All white people are responsible for this system's thrive and fall. We have to do better. I'm sorry."
Earlier today, hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen clashed with counterprotesters in the streets.
A car ploughed into crowds, leaving one person dead and 19 injured.
Twenty-year-old James Fields from Ohio, the alleged driver of the car, is in detention on suspicion of second-degree murder.
In addition to those injured in the car incident, the Charlottesville Police Department said 15 were wounded in other violence related to the far-right march.
Later in the day, two state police officers assisting with the unrest died when their helicopter crashed.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who had declared a state of emergency, said that he had a message for "all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today: Go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth."
The "Unite the Right" march was called to protest against plans to remove a statue of General Robert E Lee, who had fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the US Civil War.