Olivia Rodrigo Marlay Park Preview: ‘Who among her peers shares Rodrigo's love of 1990s indie rock – a passion forged listening to her parents' Smashing Pumpkins and Hole records?'
When Olivia Rodrigo began her European tour in Dublin in April 2024, it was a performance resplendent with pop energy and punk-rock fervour. Opening with the Pixies-go-bubblegum 'Bad Idea, Right?' and then swerving into Gen Z emo bangers 'Vampire' and 'Drivers License', she showcased a pedal-to-the-floor stage presence and an irrepressible sense of fun. The atmosphere was somewhere between a mosh pit and the school disco.
It was a potent mix – one that continues to set her apart from other pop stars of her generation. Who among her peers shares Rodrigo's love of 1990s indie rock – a passion forged listening to her parents' Smashing Pumpkins and Hole records? Now Rodrigo (22) is doing it all over again. She's back for a victory lap with a new tour that opens at Marlay Park in Dublin before moving on to Glastonbury and Hyde Park in the UK. Fans will be busting a gut to make it to South Dublin.
These gigs will be a celebration of Guts – her 2023 second album and a record which emerged from a period of flux and uncertainty in her life. Rodrigo has been upfront about being caught unawares by the success of the aforementioned 'Drivers License', her 2021 single rumoured to have been inspired by her break-up from fellow High School Musical actor Joshua Bassett.
At that point, Rodrigo was a vaguely well-known teen pop figure – but hardly a superstar. 'Drivers License' – soon followed by chart-topping debut LP Sour – changed everything, whilst also sparking a blitz of speculation regarding her split from Bassett and the 'other woman' alluded to in the lyrics – 'That blonde girl… she's so much older than me'. The record shows that, after moving on from Rodrigo, Bassett dated future 'Espresso' mega-star Sabrina Carpenter. Was she the villain of the piece?
Carpenter did not think so and got her defence in with the 2022 single 'Because I Like A Boy' ('Just two kids going though it… now I'm a home-wrecker, I'm a slut… I got death threats filling up semi-trucks').
Bassett had something to say about the situation, too – seemingly pushing back with the song 'Lie, Lie, Lie'. As the tune alludes, the notoriety made him a figure of opprobrium on social media.
'I would see TikToks with like 50 million views and 10 million likes saying, 'If I ever see that kid on the street, I'm going to fucking kill him,'' he told GQ. 'It's hard to see that and then be living in New York and walking down the street.'
This was a big drama then, and it's understandable that Rodrigo would want to move on – as she explained to Rolling Stone in 2023, she was determined her second album be anything other than a break-up LP. She'd been there and done that – and the internet had filled in the blanks.
Thus was born Guts – a mane-shaking updating of the zinging punk of Sour. Working once again with producer and co-writer Dan Nigro (a forty-something veteran of the LA punk scene and also a collaborator with Chappell Roan), she put a confident new gloss on her shiny guitar sound – albeit after a period of soul searching.
'The beginning was really hard,' she told Rolling Stone. 'I felt like I couldn't write a song without thinking about what other people were going to think of it. There were definitely days where I found myself sitting at the piano, excited to write a song, and then cried.'
The problem, she revealed to The New Yorker, is that she had never dreamed of overnight success. To be catapulted from the streaming C-list of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series to the top of the charts and prime billing at the Grammys was a lot for a 19-year-old from a non-show business family (her mother is a teacher, her father a therapist).
'It took maybe a year or a year-and-a-half of truly working on it. And I had a lot of reservations when starting out the album-making process,' she elaborated. 'Coming off of the very unexpected, very appreciated success that Sour had, there was so much pressure on what would come next. I had all these voices in my head – what I thought people would like, not wanting to let people down. And so it took me a while to get to a place where I finally felt like I could be creative and just start writing songs that I wanted to hear on the radio, which should always be your paramount focus when you're making anything.'
But get there she did, and her new Guts World Tour: Spilled will be a well-deserved victory lap for a pop star with a punk soul. And it all starts in Dublin – a very good idea… right!
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When Olivia Rodrigo began her European tour in Dublin in April 2024, it was a performance resplendent with pop energy and punk-rock fervour. Opening with the Pixies-go-bubblegum 'Bad Idea, Right?' and then swerving into Gen Z emo bangers 'Vampire' and 'Drivers License', she showcased a pedal-to-the-floor stage presence and an irrepressible sense of fun. The atmosphere was somewhere between a mosh pit and the school disco. It was a potent mix – one that continues to set her apart from other pop stars of her generation. Who among her peers shares Rodrigo's love of 1990s indie rock – a passion forged listening to her parents' Smashing Pumpkins and Hole records? Now Rodrigo (22) is doing it all over again. She's back for a victory lap with a new tour that opens at Marlay Park in Dublin before moving on to Glastonbury and Hyde Park in the UK. Fans will be busting a gut to make it to South Dublin. These gigs will be a celebration of Guts – her 2023 second album and a record which emerged from a period of flux and uncertainty in her life. Rodrigo has been upfront about being caught unawares by the success of the aforementioned 'Drivers License', her 2021 single rumoured to have been inspired by her break-up from fellow High School Musical actor Joshua Bassett. At that point, Rodrigo was a vaguely well-known teen pop figure – but hardly a superstar. 'Drivers License' – soon followed by chart-topping debut LP Sour – changed everything, whilst also sparking a blitz of speculation regarding her split from Bassett and the 'other woman' alluded to in the lyrics – 'That blonde girl… she's so much older than me'. The record shows that, after moving on from Rodrigo, Bassett dated future 'Espresso' mega-star Sabrina Carpenter. Was she the villain of the piece? Carpenter did not think so and got her defence in with the 2022 single 'Because I Like A Boy' ('Just two kids going though it… now I'm a home-wrecker, I'm a slut… I got death threats filling up semi-trucks'). Bassett had something to say about the situation, too – seemingly pushing back with the song 'Lie, Lie, Lie'. As the tune alludes, the notoriety made him a figure of opprobrium on social media. 'I would see TikToks with like 50 million views and 10 million likes saying, 'If I ever see that kid on the street, I'm going to fucking kill him,'' he told GQ. 'It's hard to see that and then be living in New York and walking down the street.' This was a big drama then, and it's understandable that Rodrigo would want to move on – as she explained to Rolling Stone in 2023, she was determined her second album be anything other than a break-up LP. She'd been there and done that – and the internet had filled in the blanks. Thus was born Guts – a mane-shaking updating of the zinging punk of Sour. Working once again with producer and co-writer Dan Nigro (a forty-something veteran of the LA punk scene and also a collaborator with Chappell Roan), she put a confident new gloss on her shiny guitar sound – albeit after a period of soul searching. 'The beginning was really hard,' she told Rolling Stone. 'I felt like I couldn't write a song without thinking about what other people were going to think of it. There were definitely days where I found myself sitting at the piano, excited to write a song, and then cried.' The problem, she revealed to The New Yorker, is that she had never dreamed of overnight success. To be catapulted from the streaming C-list of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series to the top of the charts and prime billing at the Grammys was a lot for a 19-year-old from a non-show business family (her mother is a teacher, her father a therapist). 'It took maybe a year or a year-and-a-half of truly working on it. And I had a lot of reservations when starting out the album-making process,' she elaborated. 'Coming off of the very unexpected, very appreciated success that Sour had, there was so much pressure on what would come next. I had all these voices in my head – what I thought people would like, not wanting to let people down. And so it took me a while to get to a place where I finally felt like I could be creative and just start writing songs that I wanted to hear on the radio, which should always be your paramount focus when you're making anything.' But get there she did, and her new Guts World Tour: Spilled will be a well-deserved victory lap for a pop star with a punk soul. And it all starts in Dublin – a very good idea… right!
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WITH buzzing music fans watching, Olivia Rodrigo will take to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage on Sunday to bring the world's most famous festival to a close. At 22, she will be the second youngest ever to do so, after Advertisement 11 Olivia Rodrigo at a Beverly Hills party earlier this year Credit: Getty 11 Young Olivia with parents Chris and Jennifer Credit: Disney Channel/Youtube 11 Olivia playing New York last year on her world tour Credit: Getty Her meteoric rise to fame has taken her from Disney Channel starlet to 46million monthly listeners on Spotify, 14 Grammy nominations and collaborations with David Byrne and So how did a Disney child actor come to make this journey through the ranks to grab the most prized slot at Worthy Farm? Known for her heart-on-sleeve hits including Drivers License and Good 4 U, it seems Olivia was always destined to achieve her goals. 'I want to be a songwriter — I don't want to be the biggest pop star that ever lived,' she said in an interview. Advertisement Read more on Olivia Rodrigo 'I worked my whole childhood and I'm never going to get it back. 'I didn't go to football games, I didn't have this group of girlfriends that I hung out with after school. That's kind of sad.' Raised in a southern California town by her teacher mum Jennifer and therapist dad Chris, Olivia was only 12 when she made her acting debut as the lead in the American Girl doll franchise movie. Before that, the self- professed 'theatre kid' had been writing songs — before going on to learn piano and guitar — and was inspired by Taylor Swift's country tones. Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Breaking She once declared herself the 'biggest Swiftie in the world', and was also a huge fan of the in-your-face energy of Nineties and alt-rock groups such as No Doubt. 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He claimed he had heart failure amid the stress. Advertisement Olivia said: 'I put it out not knowing that it would get that reaction, so it was really strange when it did. 'I just remember everyone being so weird and speculative about stuff they had no idea about.' 11 Loved-up Olivia and boyfriend Louis Partridge in January Credit: GC Images 11 Olivia was awarded three Grammys in 2022 Credit: Getty Advertisement 11 Olivia with her idol Taylor Swift in 2021 After Drivers License, Olivia's career went from strength to strength. Her second single, Deja Vu, was certified four times platinum in the States, then May 2021 saw the release of her debut album Sour, with pop-punk hit Good 4 U going six times platinum in the US. She earned rave reviews from critics, while artists including Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne heaped praise upon her. Advertisement Her first live performance in the UK was at the Brit awards in 2021, while her festival debut here was at Glastonbury the following year. 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Take her 2023 hit Vampire, in which she brands a mystery older ex a 'bloodsucker' who was only with her for fame. She dated producer Adam Faze for seven months before things came to an end in early 2022, then entered into a short relationship with music executive Zack Bia that same year. Advertisement But despite her earlier pain, she is now loved up with British actor Louis Partridge, known for playing Sid Vicious in a series about the Sex Pistols. He said in an interview last year: 'Dating probably shouldn't be done in the public eye . . . there's enough going on between two people. 'You don't need the voices of thousands of others in your head.' 11 Olivia with her guitar during her Disney days Credit: Getty Advertisement 11 Olivia will take to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage on Sunday Credit: Getty But that has not stopped them from going, in true Gen Z style, 'Instagram official'. And last November, Louis, 22, took Olivia to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United take on Dealing with the pressure of publicity is far from the only trouble Olivia has found herself in, though. Advertisement Hole singer Courtney Love took to social media to call out similarities between the artwork on her 1994 album Live Through This and promotional material for an Olivia Rodrigo concert, both of which featured the singers dressed as prom queens clutching flowers while mascara ran down their faces. 'My cover was my original idea. A thing you maybe have to actually live life to acquire?' wrote Nineties rock star Courtney, though the pair seemed to patch things up. However, allegations of copyright infringement involving hits on Olivia's debut album and songs by Taylor Swift and Paramore would go on to cost the star millions. Both acts ended up receiving not only 50 per cent of the royalties from the tracks they had inspired, Deja Vu and Good 4 U, but were included in the songwriting credits. Advertisement Olivia's outspoken nature did not help, as she had previously mentioned Tay's Cruel Summer was the direct inspiration for her hit. Even last week, she was accused of making a Nashville venue take down Taylor Swift imagery before filming there in 2023, though it was later confirmed the removals were done for legal reasons. 'I was so green as to how the music industry worked, the litigious side,' Olivia has said. Headlining Glastonbury alongside The 1975 and Neil Young shows that Olivia has come a long way, especially amid rumours her third album could be released this year. Advertisement She may look like the sweet girl next door, but her determination to direct her own career proves she is as punk as the rest of them.
