All You Need To Know About Olivia Rodrigo’s Debut Single: drivers license

Bronwynn Buakong

1/13/20

On Friday, January 8th, 2021, Disney actress and singer, Olivia Rodrigo released her debut single called "drivers license." This song has caused much craze in the media world. In less than a day, her song has reached number one on the iTunes top charts, above her inspiration, Taylor Swift. As a seventeen year old Disney actress, this is an extreme accomplishment. From her success on the Disney+ original series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS), Olivia has gained a massive following, as well as her co-star, Joshua Bassett. These two actors have been inseparable since the beginning of their roles in the show.

Ever since the single released, there was great speculation about who the song was directed towards. The lyrics represented a storyline where Olivia had experienced heartbreak and betrayal. “'Cause you were so excited for me / To finally drive up to your house / But today I drove through the suburbs / Crying 'cause you weren't around” (Olivia Rodrigo). Many people in social media have come up with multiple well conceptualized theories that this song was written about the one and only Joshua Bassett.

But these speculations did not appear from thin air. Around the beginning of 2020, after the ending of season 1 of ‘HSMTMTS’, many people started noticing how close Joshua and Olivia have become. Hundreds of fans have investigated small details, such as Olivia wearing his hoodies, and commenting on each other’s social media posts. Their supporters loved seeing them together, but slowly things started to change during the summer of 2020. They stopped interacting with each other on social media, and Joshua was out seen in LA with another girl, actress and singer Sabrina Carpenter. “And you're probably with that blonde girl / Who always made me doubt / She's so much older than me / She's everything I'm insecure about” (Olivia Rodrigo). This line in her song was definitely related towards Sabrina Carpenter because of her blonde hair, and the fact that she is 21 years old (keep in mind that Joshua is 20 while Olivia is 17). People started posting pictures of them hanging out, and began speculating that they were allegedly together. On Olivia’s instagram page, people realized that the original songs that she posted had changed from upbeat to more solemn, and everyone saw the difference in her spirit and energy.

Although these are all speculations, it may not be far off from the truth. In the summer of 2020, Joshua Bassett released a song called "Anyone Else," with a corresponding music video, with no other than Sabrina Carpenter. People have started to put the pieces together about the so-called "love triangle." In the past 48 hours since Olivia’s song had debuted, TikTok has been filled with thousands of videos discussing the Olivia, Joshua, and Sabrina drama. The singer herself has neither confirmed nor denied any of the speculations across the internet, but it is fairly clear that the song is about co-star Joshua Bassett due to these intricate clues that have developed over time.


Olivia Rodrigo’s song has taken over like a storm and will continue to succeed, especially in all of the social media platforms. This single and their drama is all that people have been talking about online recently, which could definitely be a great publicity stunt for these actors, as well. The entertainment industry can become very messy in a short period of time, and all of this drama with these young adults have clearly proven that point. Although this all may seem very insignificant to the older generation, this infatuation has truly captivated millions of people in Gen Z as well as millennials. Publicity stunt or not, we can all agree that this gossip was a phenomenal way to start off this new year, make sure to stream "drivers license" available on all music platforms.