THE RISE OF OLIVIA RODRIGO

Rodrigo's acting career started early. Just at the age of twelve, Disney had cast her as a lead role in the Disney Channel original show, Bizaardvark, where she played the character of Paige Olvera. The show revolves around Paige and her best friend, Frankie Wong, uploading comedic videos to their online channel. While she did have some success as a part of Bizaardvark, this isn’t her only acting project.

Rodrigo also starred in another Disney project, where she played Nini Salazar in the Disney + original series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (HSMTMTS). Nini is a teenage girl who is trying to figure out her place in high school, with the show revolving around her auditions, emotions, and boys. This Disney series became a big hit, with fans hooked on the drama. This is what first put Rodrigo in the spotlight.

In the show, Nini’s love interest, Ricky Bowen, is played by Joshua Bassett. Fans of the show sensed a lot of chemistry between Rodrigo and Bassett. Because they were love interests on the show, naturally they were shipped together in real life by fans of the show. Although they never confirmed their relationship, many people theorize that Bassett and Rodrigo once dated, and then split apart. They were always very close in interviews and often hung out, even apart from filming HSMTMTS. A few months after the pandemic began, Rodrigo and Bassett were tense around each other, with fans theorizing that the two must have had a falling out.

Later on August 16, 2020, Rodrigo tweeted, “and that’s on failed relationships.” She also posted a TikTok saying that she had written a song because her feelings got hurt. Months later, she released a song that she called “Driver’s License.”

The song was explosive. Only a few days after its release, the song set a Spotify record for most streams in a week worldwide. But why did it blow up?

One theory is that it grew popular because it contained some celebrity drama. In the single, Rodrigo describes herself “driving through the suburbs / crying 'cause you weren't around.” She also sings the lyrics “And all my friends are tired / of hearing how much I miss you.” These lyrics obviously imply that Rodrigo had just experienced a breakup. This drama spiraled, causing people all across the world to make assumptions about Rodrigo’s and Bassett’s relationship. This led to TikTok and Youtube videos being made about their suspected relationship and signs of how Rodrigo’s songs are about Bassett. These videos gained a lot of attention and all eyes were on Olivia Rodrigo. This is one way she and her song gained a lot of fame.

Besides all of the drama, Rodrigo’s song also got famous because of how vulnerable and personal it is. Many young people could relate to her music because Rodrigo’s passion and heartbreak could be felt through her lyrics.

After the skyrocketing success of "Driver's License," Rodrigo didn't take a break. Instead, she quickly released her debut album, Sour. Most of the songs on the album follow similar themes to "Driver's License," with breakups and heartbreak being resounding themes. And while Sour is her only released album, she has already broken several music records. Sour was one of the most successful albums of the year, climbing after its release to #1 on the Rolling Stones Top 200 Albums Chart, with over 280 million streams.

Since the release of this debut album, Rodrigo has been enjoying the spotlight. One of her recent public appearances was at Vogue's Met Gala, where she interacted with all of the famous musicians that were once her heroes. With fans all over the world, Olivia Rodrigo has definitely made a mark in the music industry. She has made several appearances on shows and is widely admired. Rodrigo started off on Disney Channel, and look where she is now: she's on track to become one of the most famous musical artists of our generation.