10 reasons it's a bad idea to not take St. Paul-bound Olivia Rodrigo seriously

The former Disney TV star has come a long way in a short amount of time transitioning into a rock star.

By Chris Riemenschneider Star Tribune

March 12, 2024 — 8:10am

She kicked off last month's Grammys telecast with a wowing performance -- a full-throated rendition of her biting anti-fame single "Vampire" that culminated with blood spilling down her cheeks.

By the end of the awards show, though, Olivia Rodrigo seemed to have mud on her face. She had one of the biggest-selling albums of the year and six total nominations, and yet she went home with zero trophies.

Was the Grammys slight a sign that Rodrigo's status as pop music's new It Girl is over? Let's hope so. Grammy voters have long been bad at recognizing long-term rock 'n' roll royalty early in their careers.

As she returns to town for just her second Twin Cities performance Friday at Xcel Energy Center -- tickets for which sold out instantly, resulting in resale seats 10 times their original price -- Rodrigo really is starting to look like a rock star for the ages.

Her latest album, "Guts," is a full-volume banger. Building on the momentum of "Brutal" -- the last and best song on her 2021 debut LP, "Sour" -- Rodrigo channels '90s rock acts from Nirvana to Elastica to the Breeders in new songs such as "All-American Bitch," "Bad Idea, Right?" and "Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl."

She rocks out convincingly and rather thrillingly, too, balancing genuine angst and bright-eyed wonder with jealousy and raging hormones alongside smart wordplay and mighty song hooks. Those are pretty much the core ingredients rock 'n' roll was built on, and there aren't many young acts mixing them together better than Rodrigo at the moment.

However, Rodrigo still seems to be fighting for respect. She's only a couple years removed from being a Disney TV star, after a three-season run in "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series." That no doubt is one deterrent for her being taken seriously.

She's also still remarkably young, a mere 21, another detriment in many industry watchers' eyes; especially if you're a woman.

Here are 10 reasons Rodrigo's fight for respect should already be declared a knockout victory.

1. She's been writing good songs since her early teens. Maybe the first sign Rodrigo wasn't like other Disney pop stars, she showed off her songwriting chops while starring in "HSMTMTS," landing a couple fairly high-quality tunes featured in the series, including the heartfelt ballad "All I Want."

2. And she's still writing all her music. Did you notice all the other songwriters listed in a lot of the hit songs at the Grammys? All the tracks on Rodrigo's albums are credited to her and her go-to producer, Daniel Nigro, with only occasional outside collaborators. That's typical in rock music, sure, but not for pop hits.

3. She learned to caterwaul from Minneapolis' finest. Per her Rolling Stone cover profile: "To wake her up [for school] each morning, her mom would drop the needle on Babes in Toyland's 'Fontanelle.' Listening to Kat Bjelland's screams, she'd get dressed and ready for the day. 'Rock in that feminine way, that's just the coolest thing in the world to me,' she says."

4. Her breakout hit was grade-A real. What's more authentic than a teenager singing about the freedom of getting behind the wheel and the torture of a first love unraveling? "Drivers License," the power ballad that immediately put Rodrigo in the fast lane in January 2021, was as relatable as it was irrepressible.

5. She still doesn't act too grown-up. "I know my age, and I act like it," the California native proudly sings in "All-American Bitch," a telling lyric in the opening song on an album that shows her maturing without losing her vim and vigor or wit. Similar themes can be heard in "Bad Idea, Right?" and "Get Him Back," which offer yin-and-yang reactions to age-old boy problems, but in agelessly smart-alecky ways.

6. She waited to take on arenas. Rodrigo could have easily sold out Xcel Center her first time in town. Instead, she chose the Armory and other midsize venues on her debut tour in 2022. This resulted in madcap resale prices, but it showed she wanted to earn her stripes and hone her craft, and wasn't just out to cash in.

7. She could be making even more money acting. Rodrigo gave up her spot on the hit Disney TV show to focus on music, despite earning praise for her acting. So far, she hasn't looked back. You can bet movie offers have piled up since then, many probably more lucrative (and less rigorous) than a sold-out world tour. For now, though, she's all in on music.

8. She's earned strong support from her elders. Carole King, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Jack White have all mentored her. Billy Joel and Avril Lavigne duetted with her. Cardi B, Gwen Stefani and Alanis Morissette all have publicly celebrated her. St. Vincent called her "shockingly talented."

9. And she supports them back. How cool is it Rodrigo recruited indie-rock hero Kim Deal and her band the Breeders to open the New York and Los Angeles dates on her tour? (Chappell Roan, another singer produced by Nigro, is opening in St. Paul.) She also helped turn a new generation onto Veruca Salt's "Seether" by covering it on her first tour. And you can't read an interview without her shouting out a laundry list of influences.

10. Oh, and she's already a rock-solid live act. While the Guts Tour reportedly includes dancers and some visual trickery, her Armory show in 2022 didn't offer much in the way of stage production and instead made her wide-ranging voice and songs the focus. It made a statement, too, with an excellent all-female backing band. That was enough for a very strong first impression.