Olivia Rodrigo To Support Women’s Healthcare
Olivia Rodrigo speaks onstage at The Drop: Olivia Rodrigo at The GRAMMY Museum on October 03, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Olivia Rodrigo admits she was nervous before dropping her sophomore album, GUTS. But a month later, the record has been topping the charts internationally. Rodrigo, 20, tells People, “I actually feel like I’ve had the most happy, calm post-release month. It’s been really cathartic, and I feel like I can actually enjoy the album for the first time.” Fans of the “vampire” singer who snagged copies of her vinyl learned each of the four different-colored records features an exclusive, unreleased bonus track: “obsessed,” “scared of my guitar,” “stranger,” or “girl i’ve always been.” Though the songs aren’t available on streaming services yet, Rodrigo teases, “I can’t show you all my cards, but I really do like a lot of those songs, and I feel like they’re not going to live on vinyl forever.”
Next up for the singer-songwriter, she’ll perform an intimate show at The Theatre at Ace Hotel DTLA in Los Angeles on Monday, October 9. The intimate event will have Rodrigo playing songs that she’s never played before. Singing alongside frequent collaborator Dan Nigro at the concert, she says the two will talk about their creation, inspiration, and “fun stories that we collected while making this album.”
Proceeds for the show will be donated to Rodrigo’s newly launched nonprofit, Fund 4 Good. Named as a cheeky nod to her 2021 hit single “good 4 u,” the charity aims to support causes close to the Grammy winner’s heart. “Its initiative is to raise awareness for certain groups that are championing women’s issues in America and all of the other territories I’m going to. I’m very excited, and I think it’s going to be a very fulfilling and hopefully productive experience,” explains Rodrigo. “Lots of the money is going to abortion funds to help provide some resources to people who are in need of reproductive healthcare.” Fund 4 Good will also receive a portion of proceeds from each ticket sold for the Guts World Tour, which kicks off in February.
Olivia Rodrigo's Best Looks of the Year
Olivia Rodrigo’s music career has been steadily climbing since her 2021 debut. The “drivers license” singer was born on February 20, 2003, as an only child in California. The self-proclaimed “spicy Pisces” grew up listening to her parents’ favorite alternative rock music, with bands like No Doubt, Pearl Jam, the White Stripes, and Green Day. Rodrigo started taking acting and vocal lessons in kindergarten and learned to play piano soon after. In elementary school, she participated in the after-school musical theater program. By age 12, she was playing guitar by age 12. She first became interested in songwriting after listening to country music, especially Taylor Swift's music. When she was in middle school, she landed her first role in the Disney show, Bizaardvark and moved to Los Angeles. Rodrigo was homeschooled from 2016 until she graduated in 2021. After three seasons on the show as guitarist Paige Olvera, Rodrigo was cast in the starring role of Nini Salazar-Roberts on the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in 2019.
The following year, Olivia signed with Geffen and Interscope Records in 2020. A year later, she released her debut single, “drivers license,” which became one of the best-selling songs of 2021, propelling her to mainstream fame. She followed it up with singles “Deja Vu” and “Good 4 U,” and released her debut solo studio album, Sour, in May of that year. Since then, the artist has won various accolades, including three Grammy Awards. She even came out with a Disney+ documentary prior to her album release titled Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U. The documentary chronicled her creative process with Sour. In September 2023, she dropped her second studio album, titled Guts.
As we previously reported, Olivia’s highly anticipated GUTS world tour will feature 57 stops from February 2024 in Palm Springs, California, making stops across North America and Europe, before wrapping up on August 14 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. PinkPantheress, The Breeders, Chappell Roan, and Remi Wolf will join the singer on select dates across the tour.
Take a look below at Olivia’s best looks of the year so far:
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
