Olivia Rodrigo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Olivia Rodrigo
Rodrigo in 2024
Born	Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (2003-02-20) February 20, 2003 (age 22) Murrieta, California, U.S.
Occupation	Singer-songwriter actress
Years active	2010–present
Works	Discography songs performances
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Pop rock alt-pop teen pop indie pop alternative rock
Instruments	Vocals piano guitar
Labels	Geffen
Signature

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She started her career as a child. She appeared in commercials and a movie called An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success in 2015. Olivia became very famous for her main roles in the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark (2016–2019). She also starred in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019–2022).

Olivia then focused on her music career. She signed with Geffen Records and released her song "Drivers License" in 2021. This song quickly became number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It stayed there for eight weeks and made her known around the world. In the same year, she released her first album, Sour. This album included another number-one song, "Good 4 U". Other popular songs from Sour were "Deja Vu", "Traitor", and "Brutal".

A documentary film, Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U, came out in 2022. It showed how she created her album Sour. In 2023, Olivia released her second album, Guts. The song "Vampire" from this album also reached number one. Other singles from Guts included "Bad Idea Right?" and "Get Him Back!".

Overall, Olivia Rodrigo has had three number-one songs on the Billboard Hot 100. She also has two number-one albums on the US Billboard 200 chart. Many of her songs have been certified multi-platinum. She has won many awards, including an American Music Award and three Grammy Awards. Time magazine named her Entertainer of the Year in 2021. Billboard named her Woman of the Year in 2022. She was also named "Songwriter of the Year" by ASCAP Pop Music Awards in 2022 and 2024.

Early Life and Beginnings

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo was born on February 20, 2003. She was born in Murrieta, California. Her mother, Jennifer, is a school teacher. Her father, Chris, is a family therapist. Olivia is an only child. She grew up in Temecula, a town nearby. She was born partly deaf in her left ear.

Olivia is half-Filipina. Her grandparents and great-grandparents came from the Philippines. Her family enjoys Filipino traditions and food. Her mother has German and Irish family roots. Growing up, Olivia listened to her parents' favorite alternative rock music. This included bands like No Doubt and Green Day.

Olivia went to Lisa J. Mails Elementary School. She joined their after-school musical theater program. At age five, she started vocal lessons. Her teacher helped her enter local singing contests. She also began acting lessons. Olivia started piano lessons when she was nine. She became interested in songwriting after hearing country music by Taylor Swift. By age 12, she was playing guitar. Her first time on screen was in an Old Navy commercial in 2010.

Career Highlights

Early Acting Roles

In 2015, when she was twelve, Olivia started acting. She played the main character, Grace Thomas, in the movie An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success. She went to Dorothy McElhinney Middle School for one year. Then, she moved to Los Angeles for an acting role.

In 2016, she joined the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark. She played Paige Olvera, a guitarist, for three seasons. From then on, she was homeschooled until she finished high school in 2021.

In February 2019, Olivia was chosen for the main role of Nini Salazar-Roberts. This was for the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The show started in November 2019. People praised her acting. She also wrote and sang the song "All I Want" for the show. Olivia left the show after its third season to focus on her music.

Success with Sour

Rodrigo performing in 2022

Olivia signed with Geffen Records in 2020. She made sure she would own the original recordings of her music. On January 8, 2021, she released her first song, "Drivers License". She wrote it with producer Dan Nigro. The song was a huge hit. It broke Spotify's record for most daily streams for a non-holiday song. It reached over 15.7 million streams on January 11 and over 17 million the next day. It was also the first song to reach 80 million streams in seven days.

"Drivers License" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number one in many other countries. Olivia said it was "the absolute craziest week of my life". She felt her "entire life just, like, shifted in an instant."

On April 1, 2021, she released "Deja Vu". This song debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. This made her the first artist to have their first two songs debut in the top 10. Her third song, "Good 4 U", came out on May 14, 2021. It became her second song to debut at number one.

Her first album, Sour, was released on May 21, 2021. Critics loved it. One critic said her first three songs showed she was "Gen-Z's most versatile new artist". Another called her "the voice of her generation". Sour debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. It stayed there for five weeks. This made it the longest-running number-one album by a female artist in 2021.

In June 2021, Olivia released Sour Prom, a concert film on YouTube. Time magazine named her Entertainer of the Year. By the end of 2021, Billboard said Olivia was the bestselling singles artist worldwide. Sour was also Spotify's most streamed album globally. Olivia went on her first tour, the Sour Tour, from April to July 2022. She performed in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Her Disney+ documentary film, Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U, came out on March 25, 2022. It showed how she made Sour. Olivia received seven nominations at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. She won Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album for Sour, and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Drivers License". While working on her next album, Guts, Olivia took a poetry class. She used one of her homework pieces to create the song "Lacy" for the album.

Guts and Recent Work

Rodrigo performing in Los Angeles in 2023

On August 16, 2023, Olivia became the youngest artist to get the BRIT Billion Award. This was for having over one billion digital streams in the United Kingdom. Her second album, Guts, was released on September 8, 2023. It also debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. Olivia said the album was about "growing pains" and finding herself. She felt she had grown "ten years" between ages 18 and 20. Guts received great reviews. BBC News called it the most praised album of 2023.

The first song from Guts, "Vampire", came out on June 30. It became her third song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This made her the first artist to have the first songs from two albums debut at number one. The album's second song, "Bad Idea Right?", was released on August 11, 2023. It reached the top 10 in the US and UK.

On October 9, 2023, Olivia performed songs from Guts at a special concert in Los Angeles. All the money from ticket sales went to her Fund 4 Good organization. On October 18, 2023, Olivia announced that four secret songs from Guts vinyl editions would be released. These songs came out as an EP called Guts: The Secret Tracks for Record Store Day. On November 3, Olivia released "Can't Catch Me Now" for the movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. This song won an award for Best Original Song.

To support Guts, Olivia started her second tour, the Guts World Tour. It began in February 2024 and will run until July 2025. The tour includes shows in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. On March 20, 2024, Olivia announced a deluxe version of Guts. It included five new songs. Guts (Spilled) was released on March 22, 2024.

On April 13, 2024, Olivia joined the band No Doubt on stage at Coachella. She sang their song "Bathwater" with them. On October 2, 2024, Olivia announced a concert film for the Guts World Tour. It was released on October 29, 2024, on Netflix.

Olivia performed at several music festivals in June 2025. On June 7, she was a main performer at the Governors Ball. She sang "Burning Down the House" with David Byrne from Talking Heads. She also headlined the 2025 BST Hyde Park Show on June 27. On June 29, she was a main performer at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival. She performed on the Pyramid Stage, her biggest show in the UK. Robert Smith from The Cure joined her. They sang two of The Cure's songs, "Just Like Heaven" and "Friday I'm in Love".

Musical Style and Influences

Inspirations

Olivia Rodrigo has said that Taylor Swift and Lorde are her biggest musical inspirations. She once called herself Swift's biggest fan. Olivia later gave credit to Swift and Jack Antonoff for parts of her song "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back". She also credited Swift, Antonoff, and Annie Clark for her song "Deja Vu".

She said the White Stripes' album Elephant is the album she listens to most. She called Jack White her "hero of all heroes" in 2022. Other artists who influenced her first album include Alanis Morissette, Kacey Musgraves, and Avril Lavigne. For her album Guts, she was mainly inspired by punk and alternative rock. This included bands like Babes in Toyland and Rage Against the Machine.

Songwriting and Voice

Olivia Rodrigo has a voice type called soprano. Her music is often described as pop, pop rock, and alternative rock. Olivia has said she wants to be a songwriter, not just "the biggest pop star that ever lived". She chose to sign with Interscope/Geffen Records because they liked her songwriting.

Music experts say Olivia is a leader for new songwriters. Her songs are often about heartbreak, mental health, and sadness. They are emotional but also realistic.

Other Activities

Products and Partnerships

In December 2021, Olivia became a brand ambassador for Casetify. This company makes phone accessories. She helped design the "Hardened Hearts" phone case collection. It was inspired by her album Sour and 90s fashion. In April 2022, she became the first celebrity partner for the beauty brand Glossier.

Olivia worked with Sony Electronics to release special edition earbuds in September 2023. In December 2023, she and Health-Ade launched a "Good 4 Ur Guts" smoothie. In November 2024, Olivia became a global brand ambassador for Lancôme.

Helping Others

Olivia Rodrigo has been involved in many charity efforts. From 2017 to 2018, she worked with Instagram #KindComments. She encouraged fans to be kind online. She also teamed up with My Friend's Place. This group helps young people who are homeless.

In 2018, she became a speaker for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. In December that year, she became the face of the "She Can STEM" campaign.

In February 2021, Olivia sold "Spicy Pisces T-shirts". All the money went to She's the First. This group helps young girls get scholarships and education. In June 2021, she sold clothes from her music videos. All the money went to charity. Olivia also gave part of her Sour Tour ticket sales to Women for Women International. This group helps women who have survived war.

Rodrigo with U.S. President Joe Biden to promote COVID-19 vaccinations to young people

On July 13, 2021, Olivia helped the White House promote COVID-19 vaccinations for young people. She met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She also met with Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci. Olivia recorded videos to talk about why young people should get vaccinated.

In November 2022, Olivia joined other celebrities to raise money for epidermolysis bullosa. This is a rare disease. In December 2022, she donated items to the ASCAP Foundation. This helps music education programs. She also joined 'Musicians on Call' to bring holiday cheer to hospital patients. In January 2023, Olivia donated items to the MusiCares Foundation. This helps musicians who need financial support.

Olivia launched a charity fund called Fund 4 Good in October 2023. It aims to support women's reproductive healthcare. She told People that the fund raises awareness for groups helping women's issues. A part of the money from the US part of the Guts World Tour goes to this fund. For the Canadian part of the tour, money went to support women's shelters. For the European part, she donated to Women Against Violence Europe. In October 2024, Olivia donated money from her concert in the Philippines to Jhpiego. This is a women's health group.

Olivia supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election. In July 2025, she spoke about the difficult conditions in Palestine during the Gaza war. She said no child should suffer like that. She donated to UNICEF and asked her followers to do the same.

Achievements and Recognition

Olivia Rodrigo has won many music awards. These include three Grammy Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards. She also won an American Music Award and a Brit Award.

Time magazine named her Entertainer of the Year in 2021. They also put her on their 100 Next list. Billboard honored her as Rookie of the Year in 2021. They also named her Woman of the Year in 2022. She was on Billboard's "21 Under 21" list and topped it the next year.

Variety named her "Songwriter of the Year" in 2021 and "Storyteller of the Year" in 2023. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) named her "Songwriter of the Year" in 2022 and 2024. In 2024, Billboard included her on its "25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century" list. Rolling Stone called her "Gen Z's preeminent rock star". In March 2025, Billboard ranked her at number 21 on the "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" list.

Music Albums

Studio albums

• Sour (2021)
• Guts (2023)

Film and TV Appearances

Films

Television Shows

Concert Tours

• Sour Tour (2022)
• Guts World Tour (2024–2025)

See also

In Spanish: Olivia Rodrigo para niños

• List of artists who reached number one in the United States