Olivia Isabel Rodrigo is a pop sensation all over the world. The actress and singer grew up in California, born February 20th, 2003. Olivia grew up with her mom Jenifer, a teacher, and her dad Chris, a family and marriage therapist. Olivia comes from German and Irish heritage on her mother’s side, and Filipino heritage on her father’s side. Olivia says she didn’t always feel proud to be mixed, “Me and my other more ethnic friends grew up in a world where we thought being a white girl would be better, and you’d be happier, and people would like you more.”
When Olivia was young, she became interested in alternative rock like No Doubt (Lead singer Gwen Stefani is now her biggest idol). As a toddler, Olivia participated in singing competitions, and started singing lessons. At about 6 years old, Olivia started writing her own songs. At 9, she started piano lessons and expressed hating them like most kids. At 12, Olivia was able to play anything on guitar, as well as starting to act at 9. She landed a role in an Old Navy Christmas commercial, which led to roles on hit shows like Paige Olvera on Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. While acting, Olivia wrote songs about boys and other things. “I literally wrote breakup songs before I even held a boy’s hand.” To continue acting, her parents took her to Los Angeles, Olivia didn’t always land roles; in fact, her parents even told her she could stop, but Olivia persisted. At 10, Olivia played the lead role in An American Girl: Grace Stirs up Success”, Which is where 2 years later, she got her role on Bizaardvark.
At just 15, Olivia got the starring role in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS) as Nini Salzar-Roberts, which aired in November, 2019. Off-screen, she continued to write songs that she released on Instagram, leading to Disney asking her to write songs for HSMTMTS. At 16, after her songs became a hit on the show, they charted on Billboard’s Top 100. In 2020, Olivia signed a musical contract with Interscope Records, so when she left HSMTMTS in 2022, she started producing music.
Unlike other Disney stars like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, she signed with other labels instead of Disney’s Hollywood Records. Olivia admitted to not wanting to follow that path, as to there is a specific way they’ve gone. With support from Dan Nigro, “Drivers License” was recorded and released in January of 2021. It debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top 100, making Olivia the youngest person to achieve this, at only 17 years old! Olivia’s idol is Taylor Swift, an artist she’s often compared to. Olivia has been rumored to write breakup songs about former co-star from HSMTMTS; Joshua Bassett, but Olivia has been avoiding the rumors.
After “Drivers License” Olivia decided to make Sour, a full album instead of her original EP. In April 2021, “deja vu”, a single from Sour went viral, and made the top 10 on Billboard’s Top 100. Olivia says she dedicates her music to young adults, hoping to give them something to relate to. Olivia has performed singles off of Sour and won many awards for Sour. Due to Sour, Olivia got to meet her idol Taylor Swift, but was shot down by the media when she got sued multiple times for stealing Taylor’s beats. Since 2021 and her Sour Tour, Olivia took time to write her newest album, Guts. In June, 2023, she released her single “Vampire” which took number 1 on Billboard’s Top 100, making her the first artist in history to have 2 singles in the top spot off of 2 different albums. In September, 2023, Olivia fully released Guts, and it even outsold Sour. All songs reached the top 40, with “Vampire” at number 1. Guts is more than a breakup album despite all of the sayings, it captures the struggles of being a young girl, and trying to figure out life. In November, 2023, Olivia released “Can’t Catch Me Now” for Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”
Since Guts, Olivia has received many awards and nominations. She also started her Guts Tour which started on February 23, 2024 and is expected to end on August 14, 2024.
