Olivia Rodrigo did not become famous overnight. She spent
years taking singing lessons, acting classes, and auditioning for roles before
most people had ever heard her name. By the time the world caught up with her,
she was ready.
Born on February 20, 2003, in Murrieta, California, Rodrigo
grew up in Temecula with her parents, Jennifer and Chris. Her mother is of
German and Irish descent, and her father is Filipino. Jennifer, a teacher,
introduced her daughter to alternative rock bands like No Doubt, the White
Stripes, and Smashing Pumpkins at a young age. Those early listens planted a
seed.
Rodrigo started singing lessons at five years old. She
entered local contests and talent shows, and began writing her own songs not
long after. At nine, she added piano to the mix. She did not love it at first,
but she came around once she realized how much it helped her write. Her early
songs were already about heartbreak, even before she had dated anyone. She once
told People magazine, "I literally wrote breakup songs before I ever held
a boy's hand."
From Auditions to Disney
When Rodrigo was six, her parents enrolled her in acting
classes. She started going out for professional roles, and her parents drove
her 90 miles to Los Angeles for auditions. Progress was slow. After a stretch
of rejections, her parents told her she could quit. She said no.
That stubbornness paid off. At ten years old, she landed the
lead role in "An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success" (2015). Two
years later, at 12, she was cast as Paige Olvera in the Disney Channel series
"Bizaardvark," which ran from 2016 to 2019. The role came with a few
new challenges. She had to learn guitar. She also had to move to Los Angeles
with her family and leave public school behind. Her co-star on the show,
Madison Hu, remains one of her closest friends.
At 15, Rodrigo landed a starring role as Nini
Salazar-Roberts on "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series."
She kept writing songs on the side, and one of them, "I Am More,"
caught enough attention on Instagram that the show asked her to write a song
for her character. The result was "All I Want," a ballad she
performed at 16. The song became a hit for the series in 2020 and charted on
the Billboard Hot 100.
Signing With Geffen
Her performance on "High School Musical: The Musical:
The Series" drew the attention of several record labels. She signed with
Geffen Records, which was an unusual move. Most Disney stars who crossed over
into pop music had signed with Disney's Hollywood Records first, including Miley
Cyrus and Selena Gomez. Rodrigo was clear about why she went a different route.
"I think there is a specific archetype of the Disney star turned pop star
that I did not want to follow," she said.
She began working on new music with producer Dan Nigro, who
first reached out after seeing her sing on Instagram.
Drivers License and a Record-Breaking Debut
In January 2021, Rodrigo released "Drivers
License." The song debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her,
at 17, the youngest solo performer to debut at the top spot. It became the
first song to surpass one billion streams in 2021 and performed well across
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music. On TikTok, countless videos of
covers and lip-syncs spread the song even further.
The song is a breakup ballad, and its confessional style
drew comparisons to Taylor Swift, one of Rodrigo's biggest musical influences.
Speculation spread online that the song was about her breakup with "High
School Musical: The Musical: The Series" co-star Joshua Bassett. Whether
or not that was true, the song connected with people far outside the Disney fan
base. "The cool thing about 'Drivers License' is I have seen so many
videos of people saying, 'I have no idea who this girl is, but I really love
this song,'" Rodrigo told The New York Times. The song's cultural reach
was broad enough to inspire a viral sketch on "Saturday Night Live,"
in which a group of men sang along to it.
Making Sour
After "Drivers License" took off, Rodrigo scrapped
her original plan to release an EP. She decided to make a full-length album
instead. She and Nigro worked on it at a serious pace, sometimes putting in 13
hours a day, seven days a week. Every song on the album was written or
co-written by Rodrigo.
Two singles followed before the album came out. "Deja
Vu" reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2021, making Rodrigo
the first artist to have her first two singles both chart in the Top 10. Then
came "good 4 u" in May 2021, which also hit No. 1.
"Sour" was released on May 21, 2021. Critics and
listeners responded warmly. The album draws on a range of musical influences,
including Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, and Green Day, and moves between pop,
rock, and bedroom pop styles. Rodrigo was direct about what drove the record.
"I am a songwriter who writes with authenticity and truth," she told
Billboard. "And, to be honest, I was not feeling love or happiness at the
time. What is the point of making a record if you do not have anything
important to say?"
Live Performances
In February 2021, Rodrigo performed "Drivers
License" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." Her first
live stage performance came later, in May 2021, at the Brit Awards in the
United Kingdom, delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The performance went well,
and she got to meet Taylor Swift in person during the trip. That same month,
she appeared as the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live."
Beyond the Music
Rodrigo graduated from high school in 2021 and moved into
her own apartment. In July of that year, she visited the White House and met
with President Joe Biden as part of an effort to encourage young Americans to
get the Covid-19 vaccine.
She is aware of her platform and uses it thoughtfully.
Rodrigo, who cares about the environmental impact of fashion, prefers eco-friendly
clothing brands and shops secondhand or trades clothes with friends.
On the personal side, Rodrigo has spoken openly about her
experience growing up biracial. Her mother is white, and her father is Filipino
American. She has said she was not always proud of her background. "Me and
my other more ethnic friends grew up in this world where we thought being a
white girl would be better, happier, and more popular," she said. She
hopes her music reaches young girls who have felt the same way.
At the Grammy Awards in April 2022, Rodrigo took home three
awards for "Sour": Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance, and
Best Pop Vocal Album. She was 19 years old.
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