She’s done living out her “f–king teenage dream,” despite what the lyrics to the SOUR song “Brutal” say. Olivia Rodrigo spoke candidly about growing up in the public eye after turning 20 years old in February of this year.
“You don’t realize how young you are when you’re young, being on sets, surrounded by 40-year-old guys, talking about the traffic and the weather, learning to make small talk like an adult,” the songstress shared during her August 2023 Vogue cover story, which was released on Thursday, July 6. “I remember being in meetings when I was 13 and they were asking me what I wanted my brand to be, and I was just like, ‘I don’t even know what I want to wear tomorrow.’”
Before making headlines as Nini in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Olivia starred in Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. But, it wasn’t until the release of her single “drivers license” in January 2021 that she became a household name.
“Everything flipped on its head,” Olivia recalled after the song was released. As fans know, the track has been rumored to be about Olivia’s relationship with her HSMTMTS co-star Joshua Bassett. However, neither has confirmed the past romance. That being said, fans continued to watch as this narrative played out with various responses in song lyrics. But, the drama appeared to come to an end when Olivia and Joshua posed together on the HSMTMTS season 3 red carpet in June 2022. She departed from the show at the end of that season.
Following the release of Olivia’s debut album, SOUR, in May 2021, fans immediately dissected each song lyric, attempting to figure out who each track was about.
“It’s an interesting thing to think about,” Olivia said, speaking candidly about her public relationships. “I understand it. I could sit here and be like, ‘I don’t get why people do that,’ but I do it so often.”
Despite her love life, Olivia’s ideas on her own career have changed.
“I was under the impression that the younger you are, the more successful you’ll be in the music industry,” she explained. “I think I believed in these false ideas for a little while. The most painful moment of my life turned into my most successful.”
Scroll through our gallery for more revelations from Olivia’s Vogue cover story.
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