The instant the power ballad "drivers license" was released in January 2021, Olivia Rodrigo ignited an internet craze. Perhaps it was her chilling vocals, or the nostalgia and pining so familiar to many listeners' teenage experiences. Whatever the hook, Rodrigo created a connection people were craving during the first half of the pandemic — and it was the beginning of Rodrigo's rise to bonafide star.
Just more than a year later, Olivia Rodrigo's impact is evidenced by two No. 1 hits (including "drivers license"), chart records, billions of streams, and now, seven GRAMMY nominations. Along with nods in all four General Field categories at the 2022 GRAMMY Awards — with "drivers license" up for both Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year — Rodrigo earned nominations for Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Music Video.
Her acclaimed debut album, Sour, encapsulated the emotional rollercoaster of coming of age and surviving your first real heartache, told with Rodrigo's now trademark candor. "There was this beautiful intensity in her voice that I fell in love with immediately," Sour producer and co-writer Daniel Nigro told Variety last year. (The two met after he was "blown away" by a video of Rodrigo singing her song "happier" on Instagram.)
The rest of the world quickly became just as captivated by Rodrigo. Throughout 2021, Rodrigo covered just about every magazine imaginable, also racking up an ever-growing list of accolades including Billboard's Woman of the Year and TIME's Entertainer of the Year — even earning an invite to spend time with the president. It was unavoidable: Olivia Rodrigo was everywhere.
A Well-Worn Path To Fame
The California-born singer/songwriter began her career as an actress, first appearing in an Old Navy commercial and then earning a spot in "American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success." Despite being straight-to-video, the movie was a launching pad for Rodrigo's Disney career, where she'd star in "Bizaardvark" and "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" — the latter of which is still a current gig.
Like Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato before her, Rodrigo's singing career followed her stint in the Disney acting world (and like her predecessors, her singing talents were teased in both of her Disney series). "I always thought of myself as a singer/songwriter who fell into acting and really liked it, rather than a child actor who's like, 'Oh, I'm going to try to be a pop star now,'" Rodrigo told me in an interview for Clash last year.
Yet her interest in songwriting started much earlier. In an interview with GQ, Rodrigo said she was first inspired to become a songwriter at 11 or 12 because of Lorde's Pure Heroine: "I remember listening to the lyrics and thinking, Oh, my God — I can actually see myself in these lyrics."
Another huge inspiration for Rodrigo was Taylor Swift, whom the now 19-year-old starlet has admired since she was 5. "I truly would not be the songwriter I am today had I not grown up being so inspired by everything that she does," Rodrigo said of Swift in an interview with Ryan Seacrest last year. (Swift has publicly approved of her protégé, commenting "that's my baby and I'm really proud" on one of Rodrigo's January 2021 Instagram posts.)
Rodrigo has also said she is majorly inspired by rising indie-pop star Gracie Abrams, another peer who shares the admiration. "She wrote about such universal experiences in such extreme detail," Abrams — who is set to open for Rodrigo on the Sour Tour in April — tells GRAMMY.com. "Everyone found something in her music that brought them back immediately to a deep love or a terrible heartbreak."
She adds, "Even if [Olivia] wasn't an exceptional writer — and we all know that she is — I believe people would've still gravitated to her [because] her voice is so insane. Her tone is scary good, but also somehow still approachable."
More Than A One-Hit Wonder
With "drivers license," Rodrigo became the youngest solo artist ever to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 and broke the Spotify record for most plays in a single week, twice. Though the next two singles couldn't have been more different than "drivers license," they kept Rodrigo climbing the charts — and proved that Rodrigo was more than just a moment.
Her second release, "deja vu" — a wistful, indie-pop ode to heartbreak — helped Rodrigo become the first artist in history to debut their first two singles within the top 10 of the Hot 100 in April 2021. A month later, the angsty pop-punk anthem "good 4 u" became the singer's second single to debut atop the Hot 100 — making Rodrigo the first artist to land two No. 1 Hot 100 debuts from their debut LP.
"good 4 u" also heralded Rodrigo as one of the leading ladies of the recent pop-punk resurgence fostered by artists like Machine Gun Kelly, WILLOW, jxdn, Maggie Lindemann and Meet Me @ The Altar. Rodrigo even paid homage to genre titans Paramore, crediting the trio as songwriters on "good 4 u" after parallels were made to their hit "Misery Business."
She further showcased her knack for dynamic guitar-driven songs on "brutal" and "jealousy, jealousy," as well as her flair for punk fashion, from platformed combat boots to plaid ensembles. Even pop-punk queen Avril Lavigne — who presented Rodrigo with Variety's Songwriter of the Year Award in December — believes that Rodrigo "is a tremendous force in music that is going to be around for a long time."
"She spoke her truth and found really creative, clever, and beautiful ways to tell her story in a way that resonated with so many people," Lavigne tells GRAMMY.com. "Her music wasn't about chasing trends, but rather saying something honest and genuine, and I think the world saw through the noise and really connected with her songs and message."
The Emotional (And Earth-Shattering) Impact Of Sour
Even after seeing a string of success with its follow-up singles, "drivers license" remained the anchor of Sour's impact, thanks in part to the song's own anchor: its dramatic belt-along bridge.
"My proudest moment with 'drivers license' is the fact that the bridge is what it is," Nigro told VICE. "Maybe wanting to add bridges into pop songs comes from being in a band, wanting to be like Queen and Radiohead or even Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson to write songs that take you on adventures." (Nigro is the former frontman of indie rock band As Tall As Lions; as a songwriter and producer, he has worked with artists including Carly Rae Jepsen and Sky Ferreira.)
It was a solid jumping-off point for how he and Rodrigo would shape Sour. For the album, Rodrigo continued to build rich, sonic worlds and tapped into the complex emotions listeners could relate to, whether they're around her age or not.
In addition to the album's messy, vulnerable lyrics and glimmering bridges, Sour came out at a unique time. With people more alone than ever, clinging to the comfort of TV, film and music, Sour leaned into the emotional peaks and valleys that everyone seemed to be experiencing — and helped them reminisce about once-was romances as well.
Released in May 2021, Sour quickly became one of the best-selling albums of the year. It also sat atop the Billboard 200 chart for five non-consecutive weeks. The longevity of Sour has been undeniable — something that has likely been driven by Rodrigo's firsthand knowledge of how the industry works. "You definitely have to be a businesswoman to be a musician," she told TIME.
Taking Creative Control
Inspired by her hero Swift, Rodrigo owns her masters in a partnership with Geffen Records. "There's a path for me to have a stake in the music and art I create, which is only fair," Rodrigo said to TIME.
Along with musical control, Rodrigo has created an impressive, immersive universe alongside Sour, too. Roughly a month after the release of her debut LP, Rodrigo shared her Sour Prom concert film — a prom-like spectacle that offered a taste of what a tour could look like when touring wasn't possible.
Sour Prom also gave young fans an at-home high school ending that they may have missed out on due to the pandemic, another way for Rodrigo to connect with her audience. "Since Olivia never got to go to prom, she knew she wanted to throw an event for everyone to celebrate together," Sour Prom director Kimberly Stuckwisch told Billboard.
But Rodrigo wasn't even close to done. On March 25, she shared driving home 2 u, a documentary detailing Sour's creative journey. In the Disney+ film, Rodrigo road trips from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, recalling memories of writing her first album.
driving home 2 u featured new live performances and gave viewers a closer look at the process of making her striking debut; the result was an intimate look at what made Rodrigo so impressionable. It's also the perfect segue into Rodrigo's forthcoming tour throughout North America and Europe — which is, of course, completely sold out.
The consistency in which Rodrigo has breathed new life into the songs fans have been scream-singing (and likely crying to) for months is what has helped her become the breakout artist she is — and will hopefully remain a foundation of her future work to come. And it might be coming sooner than you think: Rodrigo recently told Billboard that she's already working on new music.
"I have a title for my next album and a few songs," she said. "It's really exciting to think about the next world that's coming up for me. I just love writing songs. I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. [I want to] just sort of explore and have fun right now."
After such a whirlwind breakout year, that "next world" is nothing but promising. So if she simply wants to have fun, we can’t help but say it: good for her.