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Who Is Olivia Rodrigo? The ‘Drivers License’ and ‘Deja Vu’ Singer Has a Promising Career Ahead
Who is she? Singer Olivia Rodrigo has already taken 2021 by storm with her breakout viral hit song “Drivers License” — but who is the 18-year-old and how did she rise to fame? To learn everything we know about the powerful performer, keep reading.
Olivia Is a West Coast Girl
The songstress was born and raised in California. She moved from Murietta, a city in southwest California, to Los Angeles in 2016.
Olivia Started as an Actress
The California native got her start in show business by appearing in an Old Navy commercial. Shortly after landing that spot, she scored the role of Grace Thomas in An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success in 2015. The following year, she was cast as Paige Olvera in Disney’s Bizzardvark. She appeared on the show for three seasons.
In 2019, she was cast as Nini Salazar-Roberts on the Disney+ reboot series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Olivia’s Music Career Started in 2020
In 2020, the Disney star signed with Interscope Records and Geffen Records on the heels of her songs “All I Want” and “Just for a Moment” for the High School Musical soundtrack. She wrote “All I Want” herself and cowrote “Just for a Moment” with costar Joshua Bassett, whom she has been rumored to be dating.
In January 2021, she released “Drivers License” to nearly instant acclaim. In the first week of its release, the track broke Spotify’s record twice for most daily streams ever for a nonholiday song. On January 11, the song had more than 15.7 million global streams on the platform — and she beat that insane record the next day with over 17 million global streams.
Writing “Drivers License” Was an Emotional Experience for Her
Olivia told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in a January 14 interview that she “wrote the bulk of the song literally crying in my living room,” adding, “I think that it definitely has that feel to it.”
“I was driving around my neighborhood, actually listening to really sad songs and crying in the car, and I got home and I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll write a song about this, crying in the car,’” she revealed. “So, I just sat down at my piano and plucked out some chords that I liked, and it kind of happened that way. But it was really, really natural and organic. Very much me writing in the depth of my emotion.”
In April, Olivia released yet another hit single titled “Deja Vu.” Additionally, she was announced as a performer on Saturday Night Live in May. It’s obvious Olivia has a bright future ahead and fellow pop stars like Taylor Swift agree!
“I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud,” the “August” artist gushed over Olivia and “Drivers License” via Instagram in January.
