Olivia Rodrigo – Getting To Know

The California born artist has started the year off by releasing her debut single ‘drivers license’, which has debuted at number one in Ireland, the UK and the U.S. Billboard 100 charts while also casually breaking numerous streaming records. What might appear to be an overnight success to some, is in fact the gradual development of one of the finest young songwriters within the pop world today. At just 17, Olivia Rodrigo is one of the most exciting young pop sensations and a name that you’ll be hearing regularly from here out. 

Born in Temecula, California on 20 February 2003, Olivia Rodrigo has been involved in the performing world professionally since 2015 after she landed her first major acting role in the family drama film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success. 

From 2016 to 2019, Rodrigo played the role of Paige Olvera in the teenage comedy Disney Channel hit show Bizaardvark, alongside Madison Hu and Jake Paul. The teenagers next major role came about in February 2019 as she was cast in the leading role of Nini Salazar-Roberts in the DIsney+ show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. It is with this role that Rodrigo started gaining the attention and support from the younger audience. 

In March 2020, Rodrigo released All I Want, a piano lead ballad with a stunning string section which builds continuously to a dramatic and powerful chorus. The song was written and recorded for the High School Musical series and although the track was not promoted as a radio release, it still managed to debut at number 90 in the U.S. Billboard 100. The track, which was written by Rodrigo herself, became the most successful hit from the series and became a huge success on TikTok. It is with this release that Rodrigo caught the attention of Interscope and Geffen records and she signed with the group in 2020. 

Rodrigo has shaken up the industry with the release of her official debut single ‘drivers license’. The pop ballad was released on 8 January 2021 and has since been streamed over 200 million times on Spotify alone. ‘drivers license’ broke a number of records in the following days after its release including becoming the fastest song to reach 100 million streams as well as reaching the most number of streams for a non holiday track in one day…a whopping 15 million streams in one day in fact! Rodrigo then beat her own record the following day by gaining another 17 million streams in a 24 hour period. To date, the video for ‘drivers license’ has been watched on YouTube nearly 72 million times. 

‘drivers license’ has hit the top spot of the singles chart in Ireland, the UK, U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden and Norway. Rodrigo has achieved what only a handful have done previously by landing at number in the U.S. Billboard 100 on its week of release. 

The track was co-written and produced by Daniel Nigro who has previously worked with the likes of Sky Ferreira, Empress Of and Lewis Capaldi. The honesty, rawness and emotional makeup of the track is captivating and Rodrigo’s success has been championed, supported and celebrated by industry heavyweights such as Taylor Swift, Niall Horan and Halsey.

Olivia Rodrigo’s popularity is growing at a rapid rate. With 5.5 million Instagram followers and 4.4 million TikTok fans, Rodrigo is well on course to join the heavyweights mentioned above in terms of social and industry domination as we continue on into 2021. From her early days as an actress, working her way through the circuit at Disney, all the way up to today where she has cemented herself as one of the most exciting, talented and popular stars in the world of pop – Olivia Rodrigo has taken off and there appears to be no sign of her slowing down.