American pop star Olivia Rodrigo will soon be popping by for the Singapore leg of her GUTS world tour, where the singer-songwriter plans to make fans happier with not one, but two sold-out concerts on 1 and 2 October at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Sounds like deja vu, since the three-time Grammy Award-winning artist will be following in the footsteps of musicians that have chosen Singapore as their stage of choice, ranging from the newer wave Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars to old-school acts like Deep Purple and Richard Marx.
Whether or not you were lucky enough to snag a ticket though, it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on your knowledge about the 21-year-old pop idol.
After all, there’s a pretty good chance that her most famous songs — including her breakout whingeing heartbreak hit, drivers license — will be dominating the airwaves for the next couple of months.
Here’s everything you need to know to get through the upcoming, inevitable conversations about Olivia Rodrigo without feeling left out and sour (the title of her debut album). Or you could sit in the corner, turn on your Walkman and listen to your favourite cassette.
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The all-American pop star
Olivia Rodrigo was born 20 February 2003, to Ronald Rodrigo, a practising therapist of Filipino descent, and Sophia Rodrigo, a schoolteacher who was born in America but is of mixed German-Irish heritage.
As an only child living with her parents in Temecula, California, Olivia is close to her dad and mum, often describing them as her BFFs (best friends forever) in interviews and crediting them for her values.
She was inspired by Taylor Swift as a kid
Olivia’s parents were also the people who got her into music. Though not musicians, they were diehard music junkies who brought their daughter along for concerts.
They also signed her up for singing and piano lessons, providing the budding star with a good musical foundation in her later years – when she shifted her gaze to melodious muses like Taylor Swift and Lorde.
Olivia Rodrigo was born for showbiz
But it wasn’t music where Olivia first found prominence but instead, acting. At the encouragement of her singing coach, the young star took on acting lessons that eventually led to a TV commercial appearance by age seven.
This was followed by her acting debut in a direct-to-video film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success in 2015, and just a year after, in Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark.
She played the role of guitarist Paige Olvera for three seasons, before moving on to a starring run as Nini Salazar-Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on the Disney+ streaming platform, which gave her a chance to flex her music chops when she wrote and performed All I Want.
Everything changed for her after drivers license
Though Olivia Rodrigo received good reviews for her performances, she left acting soon after to refocus on music.
She signed on with a label and started working on her first single, drivers license, without knowing that it would end up shooting her into superstardom. Her mum – who supplied sounds from her own car for some sections in the hit single – wasn’t even a fan of its bridge!
But Olivia Rodrigo says she stuck to her instincts, and the rest is history. The song broke the Spotify record for the most streams for a non-holiday song, hitting 15.7 million streams on its debut day and 17 million the next. It went on to become the first song in history to hit 80 million streams in one week.
Long list of awards at a young age
Her next couple of singles, deja vu and good 4 u, followed in drivers licence’s footsteps by debuting within the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Her first album Sour finally came on 21 May 2021, solidifying her status as a rising star well-deserving of multiple awards.
Olivia Rodrigo’s accolades and awards to date include:
- Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album for Sour and Best Pop Solo Performance for drivers license in 2022
- Billboard Music Awards for Top New Artist, Top Female Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Streaming Songs Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album for Sour and Billboard Women in Music in 2022
- MTV Video Music Awards for Best New Artist, Song of the Year & Push Performance of the Year for drivers license in 2021; Best Editing for vampire in 2023
And her best songs are
The names of Olivia Rodrigo’s most popular songs have been peppered throughout the article, but just in case you need a listening list, here goes:
- drivers license
- deja vu
- good 4 U
- vampire
- happier
Her fans call themselves Livies
Every fandom needs a name to call itself, and it seems that Olivia Rodrigo’s listeners have more or less settled on the name Livies. Other nicknames that’ve continued to stick around include the fan favourite Olives, as well as the self-deprecating — and decidedly less TV-friendly — Rodrighoes.
Olivia Rodrigo can’t live without…
Her 40-ounce lavender-coloured Stanley cup, at least according to a video interview she did with GQ.
For those who aren’t in the know, the reusable thermos flask has become a sensation on TikTok, with new pastel colourways often selling out moments after release.
People actually have Stanley cup collections – never mind that every single one will set you back about S$60 apiece.
Anyway, the marketing honchos at Stanley must’ve seen that video too, since there’ve already been rumours floating around that a collaborative Stanley tumbler will be launched together with Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS world tour.
