Who is Olivia Rodrigo? Get to know the new, emerging pop star that has taken over your social media feeds.
Olivia Rodrigo, known for her lead role on the Disney+ original series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, dropped her debut single, "Drivers License," on Friday (January 8) and everyone — literally everyone — is obsessed.
The 17-year-old actress and singer received praise from Taylor Swift, Joe Jonas, Sophie Turner, Finneas and Zara Larsson, just to name a few, and the heartbreaking track has gone viral, reaching No. 1 on Global Spotify with over 7 million streams just days after its release.
If your Instagram Story feed hasn’t been flooded with screenshots of people streaming the track, you’re in the minority.
So… Who Is Olivia Rodrigo?
Olivia Rodrigo is a teen singer/songwriter and actress from Temecula, California. She is most known for her roles as Paige Olvera on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark and Nini Salazar-Roberts on the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Rodrigo wrote the song "All I Want" for the show's Season 1 soundtrack, and it has since reached a gold-certified status, hitting over 200 million global streams.
Last year, Rodrigo was included on Variety's "Power of Young Hollywood List 2020."
Is Olivia Rodrigo Friends With Taylor Swift?
Technically they are not friends IRL (yet) but the virtual love(r) fest is real. Rodrigo is a well-documented Swiftie and it seems as though the adoration is mutual, as Swift has shouted out the young singer on social media on more than one occasion.
Rodrigo took to Instagram to share her reaction to finding out that “Drivers License” was right behind Swifts’ new deluxe evermore tracks “Right Where You Left Me” and “It’s Time To Go” on the iTunes chart just hours after its release.
Swift saw her celebratory post and commented, “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud," adorably using a quote by Andrea Swift from an old interview that Swifties often use on social media.
Back in April 2020, the HSMTMTS star covered "Cruel Summer" for MTV's Alone Together Jam Session, and Swift took notice, praising the performance on her Instagram Stories. "THE TALENT," she wrote. "Love This!!! Thanks for this beautiful performance @olivia.rodrigo."
"TAYLOR SWIFT IS THE REASON I WRITE SONGS AND SHE POSTED ME ON HER STORY AND TOLD ME I WAS TALENTED??? WHEN IS ASHTON KUTCHER GONNA JUMP OUT OF A BUSH WITH A CAMERA CREW!!!!???!??!" Rodrigo wrote, losing all chill. "I AM GONNA FRAME THIS SCREENSHOT AND HANG IT ABOVE MY FIRSTBORN’S CRIB."
Does Olivia Rodrigo Have an Album Out?
Not yet. According to a press release, the musician recently signed to Geffen Records and is set to release her debut EP, which she wrote during quarantine, later this year.
Who Is Olivia Rodrigo’s Song, “Drivers License,” About?
While “Drivers License” is about a breakup, Rodrigo has yet to publicly confirm whether the song was inspired by her recent breakup with ex-boyfriend, and HSMTMTS co-star, Joshua Basset. The couple reportedly split sometime in 2020 and he has since been spotted with fellow Disney star Sabrina Carpenter.
Fans have pointed out the following lyrics from the song, “And you’re probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt / She’s so much older than me / She’s everything I’m insecure about,” seem to be about Carpenter, as she is blonde and three years older than Rodrigo.
“When I came up with ‘drivers license,’ I was going through a heartbreak that was so confusing to me, so multifaceted,” Rodrigo stated in a press release. “Putting all those feelings into a song made everything seem so much simpler and clearer—and at the end of the day, I think that’s really the whole purpose of songwriting. There’s nothing like sitting at the piano in my bedroom and writing a really sad song. It’s truly my favorite thing in the world.”
Is Olivia Rodrigo on TikTok?
Rodrigo is on TikTok, of course, but she is most known for being a Disney star.
Many fans have been using TikTok to break down the possibility of “Drivers License” being about Bassett, with users creating theory videos matching lyrics of the song with aspects of the singer's life, which has been boosting the song’s virality.
Pre-”Drivers License,” Rodrigo’s song “All I Want” from HSMTMTS was well-received on the app, with thousands of people using a clip of the song for their own emotional TikTok videos, not knowing it was a song from the soundtrack for the High School Musical Disney+ series.
Check out the music video for her Olivia Rodrigo's breakout song, "Drivers License," below: