Olivia Rodrigo has had an incredible 2021, including two million-selling singles in the UK and a debut album that became a streaming phenomenon, as well as a big seller on vinyl.
Music Week’s Artist Of The Year started 2021 with a breakout No.1 smash, Drivers License, that became one of the defining tracks of 2021. It has sales to date of 1,276,022, according to the Official Charts Company.
Rodrigo went on to break records with her debut album, Sour (Polydor/Geffen), which has sales of 377,048 - the year’s second biggest to date only behind Adele’s 30. Good 4 U, her second No.1 single, is even bigger in sales terms than Drivers License with a to-date total of 1,345,381.
Now, she ends 2021 an international superstar, with no fewer than seven Grammy nominations, including nods in the big four categories. Time Magazine has named Olivia Rodrigo its Entertainer Of The Year.
Here, the Music Week cover star reflects on the global impact of the debut album, Sour, and shares her thoughts on songwriting, lyrical honesty and cross-generational appeal...
Olivia Rodrigo on starting songwriting at an early age…
“I’ve been writing songs since I was five years old. Just gibberish, stuff about getting lost in the grocery store. My mom has a lot of them on VHS tapes… I was not going to be a classical pianist. It was not my jam to learn songs that other people wrote and then play them. But I’m glad my parents forced me, because playing piano is a skill I utilise every day.
“And I think the first proper song I ever wrote – the first one I finessed and that was a complete song – I was probably about 12 or 13. It was called Naive Girl and I put it on my Instagram. It’s probably still out there somewhere, in the depths of the internet.”
Olivia Rodrigo on signing with Interscope/Geffen…
“I remember going to see a bunch of record labels and they were all wonderful. But Interscope was the only place where they said, ‘We really love your songwriting abilities, we think you’re a really great, classic songwriter.’ And that was special to me and the start of a great relationship.”
Olivia Rodrigo on the success of Sour…
“I’m very proud of it. And I’m just excited to bring the honesty and vulnerability that was in those songs into my future albums, too.”
Olivia Rodrigo on how she reaches fans across generations…
"I’d like to think that I’m making songs that are just as honest as you can possibly be. I think we, as humans, share so many experiences with each other. And so by being honest, you immediately connect with other people on just a human level. So yeah, when I was writing I was trying to remember that.”
Olivia Rodrigo on what she’s been streaming…
“Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of hyperpop. And rap music. I like J Cole’s new album a lot. I love anything that makes me think about how music is put together.”
Olivia Rodrigo on where Sour fits in the history of pop songwriting…
“It’s funny. I sometimes think, ‘If I were an outsider looking in on my career, what would I think about it?’ I’ve always admired women that are really vulnerable and honest in their music, it’s a hard thing to do. And, you know, all of my idols do that. So I’d appreciate that about my music, hopefully.
“As a listener, you can always tell when someone is kind of speaking from the heart or if they’re saying stuff that they feel like other people want them to say. So, I kind of attribute that to my success a little bit. I have to remember that the reason I have all of these opportunities is because I love sitting at my piano in my bedroom writing songs. That’s the crux of it, everything else is just icing on the cake.”
Olivia Rodrigo on why it’s important to write as well as sing her songs…
“I don’t think that I would be in the position I am if I didn’t write any of my own songs.”
Olivia Rodrigo on fans interpreting her lyrics for clues to her love life…
“It’s very strange, obviously. But I completely understand the curiosity and I was definitely guilty of doing the same thing to other songwriters when I was younger. But in my head, I just think that who the song is about specifically doesn’t really have anything to do with the integrity of the song. I think the coolest thing about songwriting – and art in general – is you’re given this kind of framework of emotions, and you can fill in the blanks with pieces of your own life. And then that piece of art just becomes even more impactful and resonates with you even more. So I would hate to tell people, ‘This is what it’s specifically about,’ because I think that just completely defeats the purpose of art and emotion.”
Olivia Rodrigo on her White House meeting with “very, very kind” President Biden, as part of a vaccine push targeted at young people…
“I feel very passionately about vaccinations, especially youth vaccinations, in the US. It was really such an honour and something I’ll be telling the grandkids about… I got to sit in the Oval Office. There are so many priceless artefacts and you just get to look at them, which is super-cool. It was like being in a museum.”
See the new issue of Music Week for the full interview with Olivia Rodrigo, alongside Interscope CEO John Janick, Polydor co-presidents Tom March and Ben Mortimer, producer and co-writer Dan Nigro, Thomas Krottinger, Sony Music Publishing’s vice president, creative and Polydor’s Hannah Flaherty.
INTERVIEW: Anna Fielding
PHOTOS: Lissyelle Laricchia
