Seven minutes before Olivia Rodrigo gets on the phone, Billboard announces that her new single, “Drop Dead,” has debuted at number one on the Hot 100. When I mention this, she becomes almost too shy to speak. “It’s been a very exciting few weeks,” she manages.
No kidding. Rodrigo is taking the call during a quick break from rehearsals at Saturday Night Live, where she’ll appear as both host and musical guest this weekend. “I’m really nervous about it, but I’m trying to maintain my composure,” she says.
Another groundbreaking career milestone will follow in a few weeks, when her logo is splashed across FC Barcelona’s jerseys during one of the biggest club soccer matches in the world, El Clásico, on May 10. “I’m an American girl, but I went to my first European football game a few years ago, and it was just the most electric, wonderful environment,” Rodrigo says. “The fans were so incredible, and I loved all the chants they did. It was actually really inspiring musically.” (She also watched David Beckham’s documentary recently and loved it.)
The collaboration comes as part of Spotify’s years-long sponsorship of FC Barcelona, which has seen the platform lend its space on jerseys worn by the world’s top players—including Lamine Yamal and Raphinha—to major musical artists. Limited-edition jerseys, T-shirts, and more will be available to the public starting May 1.
Below, Olivia opens up to Vogue about the whirlwind of the last few weeks, fashion’s role in her work, and what vibes we can expect on her next album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, coming in June.
Vogue: In the promo images and video for the Barça collaboration, you’re wearing bloomers, which feel like a nod to the “Drop Dead” video. Can you talk about the costuming in the video?
Olivia Rodrigo: I really love the idea of a babydoll [dress]. I just remember being younger and having pictures of Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland from all these riot grrrl punk bands in their babydoll dresses, just owning it. I always thought that that was really cool, and so I like that there’s an element of that. I also like that it kind of feels a little pajama-y. The concept of the video is like magical realism for me. Like, oh, I just woke up and I’m in Versailles, I’m trapezing through the halls in this outfit that I maybe could have just woken up in. That was sort of the nexus of it, and I think the colors went really well with the beautiful gold backdrop and then tied into my album imagery as well.
I’m curious about the line between personal aesthetic and performance costuming?
I think everything that I wear on stage and in videos is a really heightened version of how I feel in my day-to-day life. I mean, every day when I wake up and I’m just going to the studio, I keep it pretty chill and keep it pretty jeans-and-a-T-shirt. But it’s really nice to express myself through clothes and tell stories through clothes because I think that that’s a huge part of an album rollout. I always try to keep that in mind when I’m picking out stuff for videos and for tour.
Has there been any sort of reaction to the single that has surprised you? These last few weeks, what has that been like for you?
Yeah, I mean, it’s been so much fun. I think one of my favorite things is people sending me TikToks of people doing, “One night I was bored in bed and stalked you on the internet, it’s feminine intuition because I always had a vision of us standing like this,” and then it’s a slideshow of when they first met, then they’re dating, and then they’re married. It makes me so happy to be able to soundtrack someone’s love story like that or be a tiny, minuscule part of someone’s marriage story. I think that’s so cool. That always makes me happy. I’m such a hopeless romantic, so I love watching those videos.
I know you love Robert Smith, and you have brought him out on stage. Has he heard the song? Did he know that you were going to name-drop “Just Like Heaven”?
I actually never played it for him. A few days before the song came out, I emailed him and I was like, “Oh, by the way, I shouted you out in this song.” At Glastonbury, my encore outfit was this shirt that said, “You know all the words to ‘Just Like Heaven,’” which was obviously the lyric from this song. Robert went backstage and, unbeknownst to me, wrote, “Or do you?” on the bottom of the shirt in Sharpie. At first, I was kind of freaking out about the Sharpie on my shirt, and then I was like, wait, this is actually really awesome. I treasure that shirt.
Is there anything you can tell us about You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love?
I’m really excited for people to hear it. I think I was really inspired creatively by the challenge of writing songs about being in love. I tried to make lover-girl songs and inject them with a little bit of longing and sadness and anxiety. I think as people start to hear more of the songs, I think more of that stuff will unfold. I just can’t wait for people to hear the whole journey of the album. There are so many different emotions injected into these love songs, and I’m excited for people to unpack them and see what they mean to them.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
