Olivia Rodrigo speaks on youth
vaccination Recorded July 14, 2021
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Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She first rose to prominence for starring on the
Disney television programs Bizaardvark (2016–2019) and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019–2022).
Rodrigo signed with
Geffen Records in 2021, releasing the international chart-topping single "
Drivers License" which helped raise Rodrigo to prominence. Her debut studio album Sour was released that same year, and won her three
Grammy Awards among
other accolades. A
Disney+ documentary, Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U, followed in 2022, chronicling her creative process with Sour. The following year, Rodrigo released her second studio album,
Guts, which was a critical and commercial success.
Rodrigo attended Lisa J. Mails Elementary School in Murrieta, participating in their after-school musical theater program.[14] At age five, her parents signed her up for vocal lessons with Jennifer Dustman, who would begin to enroll Rodrigo in various local singing competitions.[15] Under the advisement of Dustman her parents enrolled her in acting lessons.[16][15][17] She began taking piano lessons at age 9.[17][15] Rodrigo first became interested in songwriting after listening to
country music songs by
Taylor Swift,[13] and was playing guitar by age 12.[17] In 2010, at
age seven, she first appeared onscreen in an
Old Navy commercial.[18][19][20]
In 2015, at age twelve, Rodrigo made her acting debut portraying the lead role of
Grace Thomas in direct-to-video film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success.[21] She attended Dorothy McElhinney Middle School in Murrieta for a year, until moving to Los Angeles after landing an acting role in
Disney Channel's Bizaardvark in 2016;[14] she was homeschooled from then until her graduation in 2021.[4][22] Starring as the character Paige Olvera, a guitarist, she played the role for three seasons.[23][24][25][26]
In February 2019, she was cast in the starring role of Nini Salazar-Roberts on the
Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which premiered in November of that year.[27] Rodrigo was praised for her performance,[28][29] with Joel Keller from Decider describing her as "especially magnetic".[30] For the series, Rodrigo wrote and performed the promotional single "
All I Want", released in November 2019.[31][32] She left the show at the end of its third season to focus on her music career.[33]
2020–2022: Sour
Rodrigo signed with
Geffen Records in 2020.[34] She negotiated the record deal to secure for herself ownership of the
masters of her music.[4] On January 8, 2021, she released her debut single, "
Drivers License", which she co-wrote with producer
Dan Nigro.[35][36] Within the week of its release, "Drivers License" was critically acclaimed,[37] and broke
Spotify's record twice for most daily streams ever for a non-holiday song with over 15.7 million global streams on January 11 and over 17 million global streams the next day.[38][39] It went on to break another Spotify record for the first song in history to hit 80 million streams in 7 days.[40] The song debuted at number one on
Billboard Hot 100,[41] and reached number-one in numerous other countries.[42][43] Rodrigo stated in an interview that "It's been the absolute craziest week of my life ... My entire life just, like, shifted in an instant."[44]
On April 1, 2021, Rodrigo released her follow-up single, "
Deja Vu", which debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100,[45] making her the first artist to debut their first two releases in the top 10 of the Hot 100.[46] The third single preceding her debut album, "
Good 4 U", followed on May 14, 2021, and became her second single to debut at number one on the Hot 100.[47][48]Sour, her debut studio album, was released on May 21, 2021, to critical acclaim.[49]Slate's Chris Molanphy said its first three singles alone established Rodrigo's "early status as
Gen-Z's most versatile new artist".[50] According to Clash critic Robin Murray, Rodrigo is regarded as one of Generation Z's finest artists,[51] while Variety dubbed her "the voice of her generation" in its cover story of Rodrigo.[13]Sour debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 chart and spent a total of five weeks at the spot, becoming the longest reigning number-one album by a female artist in 2021.[52]
In June 2021, Rodrigo premiered Sour Prom, a
prom-themed concert film on YouTube.[53] Three days later, Time named her Entertainer of the Year.[54] In an Instagram post on December 24, 2021, Rodrigo uploaded a snippet of a Christmas song called "The Bels" that she wrote and recorded at age five.[55][56] According to Billboard, Rodrigo closed 2021 as the bestselling singles artist worldwide,[57] while placing eight songs on the year-end
Global 200 chart, including "Drivers License" at number four, "Good 4 U" at number nine, and "Deja Vu" at number 27.[58] In the US and UK, Sour was respectively the third and fourth bestselling album of 2021.[59][60]Sour and "Drivers License" were also respectively Spotify's most streamed album and song globally.[61] The
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) ranked Rodrigo as the tenth best selling artist of 2021 and Sour as the second bestselling album of 2021.[62] To support Sour, Rodrigo embarked on her debut headlining tour, the
Sour Tour, which ran from April to July 2022; it included stops in the United States, Canada, and Europe.[63]
On August 16, 2023, Rodrigo became the youngest artist to receive the
BRIT Billion Award for achieving over one billion digital streams in the United Kingdom. She was the 19th artist to receive a BRIT Billion Award.[68] Rodrigo's second album, Guts was released on September 8, 2023, and debuted atop the Billboard 200. She stated that the album was about "growing pains" and self-discovery. Going into the album cycle, she felt that she had grown "ten years" between the ages of 18 and 20.[69]Guts received critical acclaim from various outlets and was later declared by BBC News as the most critically acclaimed album of 2023.[70] The album's lead single, "
Vampire", was released on June 30, becoming Rodrigo's third single to
debut atop the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist ever to debut the lead singles from two career-opening albums at No. 1 on the Hot 100.[71][72][73] The album's second single, "
Bad Idea Right?", was released on August 11, 2023,[74] reaching the top 10 in the US and UK.[75][76]
To support Guts, Rodrigo embarked on her second headlining tour, the
Guts World Tour, which will run from February to August 2024 in North America, UK and Europe.[83] On March 20, 2024, Rodrigo announced that she would release a deluxe version of Guts with five additional songs, including the four secret tracks from the vinyl variants. She released Guts (Spilled) on March 22, 2024. [84]
Rodrigo's
voice type is
soprano.[96][97] Media outlets generally describe her as a pop artist,[98][99] with songs ranging from
pop rock,[100]teen pop,[101] and
indie pop styles,[102] as well as 1990s
alternative rock.[99] Rodrigo stated that she wants to be a songwriter and not "the biggest pop star that ever lived", and she chose to sign with Interscope/Geffen Records because its CEO
John Janick praised her songwriting, not her "potential star quality".[4] Music journalist Laura Snapes called Rodrigo a "
flag-bearer" for a new wave of songwriters who incline towards
power ballads "that are as emotional as ever, but project that emotion inward, trading bombast for hush", and described her musical style as rooted in heartache, mental health, and sadness, without being
melodramatic, expressing more realistic perspectives than resilient.[103]
Other ventures
Products and endorsements
Rodrigo was announced as brand ambassador of the phone accessory company
Casetify, under a year-long partnership, in December 2021. She creative directed the "Hardened Hearts" phone case collection, which was inspired by her debut album Sour and the '90s and
Y2K visual aesthetics.[104] She became consumer beauty brand
Glossier's first ever celebrity partner in April 2022.[105] Rodrigo collaborated with
Sony Electronics to release a special edition of their
true wireless Linkbuds S earbuds in September 2023.[106] She and Health-Ade introduced the "Good 4 Ur Guts" smoothie in December 2023—which was available in
Erewhon Market stores through January 14, 2024.[107]
Philanthropy and activism
Rodrigo and her Bizaardvark co-star
Madison Hu teamed up with
Instagram #KindComments to encourage their fans to spread kindness and foster positivity on social media from 2017 to 2018.[108][109][110] Rodrigo and Hu furthered teamed up with non-profit organization My Friend's Place for their 30th anniversary, to help homeless youth find shelter, food, work, education, and healthcare.[111] The event was hosted by
Jack Black and raised over $740,000 for local homeless youth.[112] Also in 2018, Rodrigo was named an institute speaker and panelist for the
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.[113][114] In December that year, she became the face of "She Can
STEM" campaign.[115][116][117]
In February 2021, Rodrigo released her merchandise line, "Spicy Pisces T-shirts", on her website, with all proceeds benefitting the non-governmental organization
She's the First which sponsors young girls' scholarship and education.[118][119] In June 2021, she sold her clothes, wardrobe and all items from her music videos on
Depop and 100% of all proceeds from 'Sour Shop' was donated to charitable organization.[120][121][122] Rodrigo donated a portion of her
Sour Tour platinum ticket sales to
Women for Women International which supports female survivors of war by helping them rebuild their lives after war devastation.[123] In December 2021, she joined
Katy Perry,
Kelly Clarkson,
Billy Porter and more on Musicians on Call in the 2nd Annual Virtual Concert "Hope for the Holidays" to bring Christmas cheer by uplifting performances and messages of hope to hospital patients via virtual concert.[124][125]
On July 13, 2021, Rodrigo was involved in a
White House effort to promote
COVID-19 vaccinations among young people in the U.S. She met with President
Joe Biden, Vice President
Kamala Harris, and
Chief Medical AdvisorAnthony Fauci, to discuss her efforts.[126][127][128]CNN reported that Rodrigo would record videos about the importance of young people getting vaccinated, including answering questions the youth have regarding the vaccination.[126]
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's
2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, Rodrigo performed "
Fuck You", with British singer
Lily Allen, at
Glastonbury Festival.[129] She prefaced the performance by dedicating it to the
associate justices who voted to overturn Roe, saying "I'm devastated and terrified. So many women and so many girls are going to die because of this. I wanted to dedicate this next song to the five members of the
Supreme Court who have showed us that at the end of the day, they truly don't give a shit about freedom. The song is for the justices."[130]
On November 20, 2022, Rodrigo joined other
celebrities, co-founders
Eddie Vedder and
Jill Vedder for the Third Annual Venture Fundraising event which helped raise more than $1.3 million that month and $6 million for the next 3 years to find a cure for
epidermolysis bullosa and other rare diseases.[131][132][133][134] In December 2022, Rodrigo joined
Chris Stapleton,
Selena Gomez, and more to donate exclusive items to the 2nd Annual
ASCAP Foundation, which supports music education and talent development programs across the U.S.[135][136] In the same month, Rodrigo took part in that year's annual virtual concert, 'Musicians on Call' with 30 different artists which brought holiday classic performances and videos of messages of hope to patients, families and health-workers in more than 5,000 hospitals nationwide.[137][138] In January 2023, Rodrigo joined various musicians in donating items to the
MusiCares Foundation Charity Relief Auction to help struggling musicians with their financial needs.[139][140]
Rodrigo launched a
charity fund called Fund 4 Good, aimed at supporting
reproductive healthcare of women, in October 2023.[141][142] She told People that the motive of the non-profit is to raise awareness "for certain groups that are championing
women's issues in America and all of the other territories [...] it's going to be a very fulfilling and hopefully productive experience."[143] A portion of the profits from the USA leg of the
Guts World Tour would go to the fund, and support the
National Network of Abortion Funds.[144] Condoms and
Plan B pills were distributed at Rodrigo's
St. Louis concert on March 12, 2024, where abortion is illegal under
state law.[145] A portion of the profits from the Canadian leg of GUTS World Tour, would go to the fund and support various
women's shelters in Canada.[146]
^Todd Spangler (February 1, 2016).
"Amazon Orders 4 'American Girl' Live-Action Specials". Variety.
Archived from the original on December 18, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2017. Last year's "An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success," based on the 2015 Girl of the Year, Grace Thomas, starred Olivia Rodrigo.
Wang, Steffanee (March 23, 2024).
"Olivia Rodrigo's "So American" Lyrics Meaning, Explained". Nylon.
Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024. ... English actor Louis Partridge, with whom she's been spotted walking arm-to-waist in the streets of London and making out at gas stations. And given the unsubtle lyrics of "So American," Partridge seems like the perfect candidate. ...'
Lauri Levenfield (November 16, 2016).
"Olivia Rodrigo, Actress". Project for Women.
Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.