Disney pushes most of its stars to be musicians. The case was the same for Olivia Rodrigo when she joined the House of Mouse. Like several other Disney stars, Olivia started as an actress. First in the Disney series Bizaardvark then in the hit show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. She is undoubtedly an outstanding actress, but the starlet attracted more attention because of her powerful vocals. In 2021, Olivia made milestones that left her fans with their jaws literally on the floor. Her songs reached number one worldwide.
Olivia's tracks racked up more than 100 million streams on Spotify, and for Gen Z, her songs became TikTok anthems for weeks in a row. After releasing a couple of hit songs, the artist made her live debut at the BRITs in May 2021. There, Olivia performed in front of most of her idols. She stole the show with her stunning performance of Driver's License. That was not only her first awards show performance, but it also marked her first time visiting the UK and London. The same month, Olivia appeared on SNL and again proved her incredible talent. Here is why Olivia will never be like other female singers and why her album Sour was such a big deal.
Olivia Rodrigo Became America's Biggest New Pop Star
During her presentation on SNL, Olivia proved that she is a great performer and received lots of compliments on Twitter, with one person writing, "Olivia Rodrigo is the greatest live female singer right now. Don't know what I was expecting, but it was nothing as incredible as this SNL performance. She sounds just like she does on the record so effortlessly."
Olivia's debut album, Sour, opened at No.1 on the Billboard 200 Chart in the week ending May 27, 2021. According to Billboard, Sour launched "with the second-largest streaming week ever for a non-R&B/hip-hop album, and second-biggest for an album of any genre by a female artist."
The album also made her the first artist to start a career with her first three singles in the top 10 on the Hot 100 Chart. When Olivia's album dropped, she was one of just four artists born after 2000 to have topped the chart, including Billie Eilish, 24kGoldn, and Jawsh 685. When the album dropped, fans were rooting for at least a Grammy nomination because Olivia was low-key carrying pop music on her back.
Olivia Rodrigo Will Never Be Like Other Female Singers
Considering Olivia is a Disney child star, fans can't help but draw similarities in comparisons to former stars like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez. Selena, who broke out on Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place, has talked a lot about the dark side of growing up as a famous child star, and the sudden gross interest in her bikini body was one example.
When it comes to Miley, her experiences were much worse. She said that she started her period while on the set of Disney and dealt with more serious matters such as body issues and anxiety. Demi Lovato went through a lot of things at Disney and after leaving. But, one thing all these celebrities have in common is that they have all released hit song after hit song.
Olivia has also blessed her fans with some fantastic tracks, but she said that her path is different from the stars before her. In a May 2021 Nylon interview, Olivia said that she's very aware of that classic Disney pop girl archetype that fans might associate with Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez. Her tremendous success is already making her unlike most former Disney stars or any female artist for that matter.
Olivia Rodrigo's Creative Freedom Is Part of Her Success
There are some reasons why Olivia will probably never be like the rest. First of all, unlike many former Disney stars who branched into music, Olivia bargained for total control of her content. She skipped signing to Disney-owned Hollywood Records and went straight to a major label. Olivia signed to Geffen Records, which is owned by Universal, and negotiated her contract to own all of her masters from the beginning of her career.
Then, there's the creative freedom that many other Disney stars never had. Disney controls most of the content that their stars produce when they are still signed to the company, and the downside is that they are rarely given the freedom to twist things. However, it was a different experience for Olivia.
She wrote All I Want, Nini's standout song in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, all by herself. Since her character Nini writes music on the show, Olivia explained that the show's creator, Tim Federle, really wanted to emphasize her singer-songwriter qualities with a new song. Olivia wrote the song in just three days while filming the series and going to school. All I Want marked her songwriting debut. Now she is considered one of the most prominent female singers of this generation.
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