Olivia Rodrigo: Meet Tonight’s ‘SNL’ Musical Guest

Olivia Rodrigo is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this week, and some fans may be unfamiliar with the rising star. Rodrigo is just 18 years old, but her career is already on the fast track to A-list status. Here’s a bit of background on the acclaimed singer.

Rodrigo was born in February of 2003 in California and began acting as a young child. She and her family moved to Los Angeles when she secured a role on The Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. Before that big break, however, she appeared in an Old Navy Commercial, then in a direct-to-video movie called An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success. She played Paige Olvera on Bizaardvark for three years starting in 2016, and in then stayed within the Disney family with her next role in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney+.

Rodrigo plays Nini Salazar-Roberts on the streaming series, and that’s where her musical breakout really began. She wrote the song “All I Want” and co-wrote “Just for a Moment on the soundtrack. The second season premiered on Friday, which is likely why Rodrigo is on SNL this weekend to promote the show in addition to her own work.

Her personal endeavor may be even more popular than her TV show, however. Rodrigo’s first single “Drivers License” came out in January, and it became an instant hit. It broke Spotify’s record for most daily streams and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rodrigo co-wrote the song with Dan Nigro, and it spelled good news for her record deal with Interscope Records and Geffen Records, which she signed in 2020.

“It’s been the absolute craziest week of my life… My entire life just, like, shifted in an instant,” Rodrigo told The New York Times as the song was taking off. She followed that up with her second single “Deja Vu” in April, which did well but did not reach the heights of “Drivers License.” At that time she also announced her debut album, Sour, which is set for release on Friday, May 21.

Rodrigo has since released her third single, “Good 4 U,” and many fans are hoping for even more new music when she takes the stage on SNL this weekend. Others are just hopeful that Rodrigo will be one of those musical guests who join in on sketches between her performances. SNL begins on Saturday, May 15 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Starting on Sunday morning, you can stream the show on Hulu with a free trial here.

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