Fans may know Olivia Rodrigo for her hit songs Drivers License and Good 4 U. The talented singer is nominated in four of the big Grammy categories this year: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, and Album of the Year.
Read on for five interesting facts to know about the singer.
Olivia Rodrigo has Filipino roots
Olivia comes from a mixed background. Her mother is American with Irish and German roots, while her father is Filipino-American.
Olivia spoke about her heritage on Disney Channel, sharing that her great-grandfather immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager.
She spoke about some of the Filipino traditions she still practices. She said, “Some traditions that have carried over to my generation are that we actually make a Filipino food. My great-grandpa had a garden and he also was a really good cook, so he’d make lumpia which is kind of like Filipino egg rolls and really yummy.”
Olivia Rodrigo has an acting career
Before she became a musical sensation, Olivia was acting.
She is best known for playing Nini Salazar Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
She played a singer and actress who auditioned for the role of Gabriella Montez in East High’s production of High School Musical.
Olivia co-wrote several tracks for the series, including the song named All I Want.
Olivia also starred in the Disney series Bizaardvark as Paige.
Olivia Rodrigo is a fan of sustainable fashion
In an interview with Nylon, Olivia revealed that the Netflix documentary, The True Cost, opened her eyes regarding the fashion world.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, people are getting paid below minimum, living wages for me to wear this T-shirt.’ It’s so stupid,” she said. “You can’t empower one woman in another country at the expense of another woman in another country. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Olivia has since changed her shopping habits and now trades clothes with her friends. “It creates no excess consumption, and it’s super fun,” she explained. “Sometimes you just get bored of your clothes, it’s not like they’re bad or anything, and it’s time to switch it up.”
One of Olivia Rodrigo’s dreams is to be a songwriter for others
Olivia told Billboard that one of her dreams is to song write for others.
She said, “I always said that I wanted to do that: Maybe when I was, like, 30 or something and I had kids — I’d stop making music and just write for other people. Because I just love songwriting. I love songwriting more than putting out songs.”
She also revealed that commercial success isn’t her main focus. “If my music becomes really commercially successful, that’s incredible, and that means I did a good job,” she told Billboard. “But some of my favorite artists are not commercially successful, and that doesn’t mean that they’re any less amazing.”
Olivia Rodrigo is a huge fan of One Direction
In an interview with Billboard, Olivia opened up about how Niall Horan gives her advice about working in the music industry.
She also told Billboard that she was a huge fan of One Direction. The singer even bashfully revealed that she used to write One Direction fan fiction when she was in middle school. It appears her childhood dreams have come true, however, as singer Niall Horan actually reached out to her.
Olivia said that the two had texted, and Niall had been open about giving her advice on how to navigate the music industry. The singer gushed about the former band member and called herself the “hugest One Direction fan” when she was younger.