Here’s all we know about provisional driver, former Disney star and heartbreak harbourer Olivia Rodrigo.
We can’t be the only ones who were totally blindsided by Olivia Rodrigo and her gut-punching creation “driver’s license”, right? It was like she appeared out of thin air, well versed in stories of heartbreak and longing as if she was the unluckiest widow on the planet. Before long, and by that I mean a week, Rodrigo charged to the top spot of charts across the globe in a debut that would rival that of Britney Spears, begging the question, who the hell is this queen?
As it turns out, this isn’t Rodrigo’s first brush with the bright lights by a long shot, so we thought we’d do a little digging – here’s all we know about 2021’s biggest breakout star.
Rodrigo’s official entry to the entertainment biz started through acting. Her first on-screen role was actually in an advert for American heritage brand Old Navy, with a lead role in direct-to-video family flick An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success just a few months after.
Disney’s Bizaardvark soon came knocking, but Rodrigo would acquire most of her now huge following from Disney+’s High School Musical revival. Titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, the show is a comedy mockumentary set in Albequerque’s iconic East High and follows the preparations for a highschool re-enactment of the original movie, have we lost you yet? Rodrigo plays musical theater obsessive Nina Salazar-Roberts, who is fittingly cast as Gabrielle Montez alongside Joshua Barrett, but more on that later…
TikTok
“driver’s License” isn’t even Rodrigo’s first huge hit, the singer wrote an original song for the series that, to date, has over 200 million streams alone thanks to its virality on TikTok – “I found a guy, told me I was a star…” ring any bells?
After the monumental success of “All I Want”, a year later in 2020 Rodrigo would signed a deal with Interscope and Geffen Records, putting the foundations in place for a chart-dominating start to the new year.
Cut to 2021, “driver’s license” is unleashed onto the world and sends everything into disarray. Listeners are reminded of lovers lost or not even had yet as Rodrigo picks up the pieces of her heart that were smashed into a thousand tiny pieces by an old flame. Rodrigo co-wrote the calamitous song with Dan Nigro (Sky Ferreira, Carly Rae Jepsen, Conan Gray), and within days of its release managed to break Spotify’s record for most daily streams ever for a non-holiday song not once, but twice.
She’s a Swiftie
Yes, you read that right, Rodrigo is a total, unabashed Lover and member of the Swiftie army. We just knew she had incredible taste. Amongst Swift, she also cites the likes of Lorde and Phoebe Bridgers as serious inspirations to her craft.
Love Triangle
As you may have gathered, “driver’s license” allegedly tells the story of a love triangle between Rodrigo, her High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Revival: The Programme co-star Joshua Bassett and his new girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter. The former is also a Disney Channel alumni, and recently hit back at the track with her own version of events in “Skin”. Only time will tell how this story ends, but we reckon Rodrigo has a good few heartbreak anthems still left in her…
