After soaring to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts with her single “drivers license” in January, Olivia Rodrigo has officially made her debut cover on Billboard Magazine.
Rodrigo sat down with Billboard to discuss her music influences, High School Musical: The Musical The Series, the making of her chart-topping single, and her upcoming debut album Sour.
.@Olivia_Rodrigo’s “drivers license” made her a pop-music sensation. With her surprising debut album, 'Sour,' she’s determined to prove her staying power.
Read the full cover story: https://t.co/ZoNjNaVEA7 pic.twitter.com/aRiDEnziZ2
— billboard (@billboard) May 13, 2021
When discussing which type of music she likes, “I am just obsessed with all types of music,” says Rodrigo. “You know how somebody’s like, ‘Oh, what kind of music do you listen to?’ And they’re like, ‘I like all music!’ And you’re like, ‘OK, that gives me nothing.’ But I truly am!”
The music artist credits her parents for her musical obsessions. The “deja vu” singer and her mother, Jennifer, would go record shopping together. Jennifer loved to listen to metal, punk, and 90’s alternative rock. Mix that with Rodrigo’s love for Lorde’s pop anthems, the young artist used those musical influences in her own music.
Rodrigo first professionally wrote music for her popular Disney+ series, High School Musical: The Musical The Series. Show-runner, Federle told Billboard, “I sent Olivia this email, being like, ‘I think Nini needs a song, and I think you should be the person who tries to write it. “And I remember three days later, Olivia was sort of sheepishly like, ‘I’ve got a little something, do you mind if I show you?” Rodrigo wrote “All I Want,” a piano ballad, which landed on the fourth episode of the first season.
The song became so popular on TikTok, it landed on the Hot 100 charts. “I didn’t even have TikTok at the time. I was like, ‘What’s this thing? Why are people making stuff that’s [just a few seconds] long? But that song is how Interscope found me,” Rodrigo explained.
When talking about creating her most popular single, “driver’s license,” Rodrigo mentions how she loves to drive as a way to destress. “Driving in the car is like my favorite thing — any time I’m stressed out, I just get in the car and drive around aimlessly and listen to music or something,” she says.
She presented the song to her label, and they were blown away. But the one person that this song brought to tears, was her father. “I could just see the tears under his sunglasses — and I like, never see my dad cry, ever. I was like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe I did something here.” The song gained so much traction on TikTok, it eventually made its way onto a SNL sketch, and the rest is history.
Rodrigo has big plans coming in the next few weeks. The highly anticipated, HSM: The Musical The Series season two will premier on Friday (May 14). On May 15, The artist will be making her SNL debut performance, with host Keegan-Michael Key, where she will perform her new single, “good 4 u.” And she will have her first album, Sour, released on May 21. “I have like a month left of senior year, and I’ve sort of been neglecting that,” she says. “Because I’ve been off making my album, I sort of forgot I was a high school student.”
Whose excited for Olivia’s SNL performance and debut album? Let us know by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
