Olivia Rodrigo Performs Emotional, Stripped Rendition of 'Drivers License': 'So Surreal'
Olivia Rodrigo has an incredibly powerful voice.
During her musical performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star wowed fans with a moving rendition of her smash hit breakup song, "Drivers License."
The 17-year-old belted a heartfelt rendition of the tune as she sat still, steadily playing the piano in a dimly lit room alongside a strings quartet.
After her performance aired, Rodrigo shared a video clip on Twitter, writing, "So surreal. Thx a milllion [sic] @jimmyfallon."
"Drivers License" held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts this week, making it one of the most successful songs domestic and abroad. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on its Jan. 8 release, which marked Rodrigo's first-ever Hot 100 chart-topper.
Last month, the singer-actress detailed the heartbreaking story of how the song (which many music listeners speculate is about her ex-boyfriend and HSMTMTS co-star Joshua Bassett, 20, came about.
"I wrote the bulk of the song literally crying in my living room, and I think that it definitely has that feel to it," she told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "I was driving around my neighborhood, actually listening to really sad songs and crying in the car, and I got home and I was like, 'Maybe I'll write a song about this, crying in the car.'"
Rodrigo poured her all into the track. "I sat down at my piano and plucked out some chords that I liked and it kind of happened that way," she added. "But it was really, really natural and organic. [It was] very much me writing in the depth of my emotion."
"The pain is definitely real in that song," she continued. "I definitely think I try to approach recording all of my music from a place of emotion. I think the emotional performances are the best, even if they're not technically the best sound."
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