Olivia Rodrigo reveals advice she was given by Jack White
Pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo has revealed she cried when meeting Jack White, and also divulged the advice he gave her.
Rodrigo, who recently announced details of her second album Guts, has explained how she turned to White for help amid the pressure of creating the new LP. As her first record Sour was a gigantic hit, Rodrigo decided to reach out to a selection of her heroes for advice, including White, who reminded her to focus on making the music she wants to hear.
In a New York Times profile, Rodrigo said: “He wrote me this letter the first time I met him that said, ‘Your only job is to write music that you would want to hear on the radio.’” She then added: “I mean, writing songs that you would like to hear on the radio is in fact very hard.”
Meanwhile, St. Vincent was another person who Rodrigo spoke to during this time. Speaking to the New York Times, Annie Clark said of the ‘Drivers License’ singer: “I’ve never met anyone so young and so effortlessly self-possessed… [Rodrigo] knows who she is and what she wants — and doesn’t seem to be in any way afraid of voicing that. And just a really lovely girl too. I’ve never heard her say a bad word about anyone.”
Additionally, Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill commented: “She’s a revelation… It’s a fascinating thing to watch these young women, and especially Olivia, because she seems to be so advanced as a songwriter, expressing themselves in these really complicated ways.”
Hanna also spoke of her joy about Rodrigo embracing the Riot Grrrl scene, adding: “That’s so great, to see this underground musical style being graphically referenced in the mainstream by a person who’s actually a music lover.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rodrigo listed Sleater-Kinney, No Doubt, Sweet and Joni Mitchell as some of her favourite artists.
Listen to Rodrigo’s new single ‘Bad Idea Right?’ below.
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