After Olivia Rodrigo slammed into our lives in 2021 with SOUR, we wondered how she could possibly follow up on such a masterpiece. Two years later, the answer is here! GUTS completely took over our lives, but even before its September release, all eyes were on Olivia. We’re counting down the days until she sets off on the GUTS World Tour, but we can’t go into 2024 without looking back at everything Olivia Rodrigo has gifted us in 2023.
GRAMMYs
Olivia may not have been nominated in the 2023 Grammys, but she won our hearts. You may be wondering, what was so important about a ceremony she was simply attending? Well, we can’t help but feel like this was the official introduction to the GUTS era. Arriving in a simple, sheer black dress gave the message loud and clear. The bright colors of Olivia’s childhood are gone! This next album would show a more mature side of her. It started the year right for us, and we spent the next five months waiting patiently.
Met Gala
Miss Olivia has appeared in more than a few iconic looks over the past few years. One place where she has never failed is the Met Gala. The black jumpsuit of 2021 and the lavender dress of 2022 have lived comfortably in our minds ever since. We waited with bated breath to see how she would follow those up. Again, she used the opportunity to tease us about the upcoming era. She stepped into her new maturity in a long black and white dress with an Audrey Hepburn-like updo. It’s a given at this point that Olivia will stun us with all of her looks, but it’s time to get into the most important part of the year: the music.
‘vampire’
The collective gasp at “bloodsucker, fame-f*cker” was heard around the world. June 30th was a big day for fangirls everywhere. We remember the thrill of clicking play on the first Olivia Rodrigo song in over two years like it was yesterday. And we don’t think she could’ve chosen a more perfect song to introduce the new era, especially having heard the rest of the album. It highlights her growth and showcases some of her best songwriting to date. Not to mention that the bridge was in all of our minds for months. The accompanying music video shows a disastrous award show performance that you should keep in mind for later.
‘bad idea, right?’
Luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait an excruciating length between ‘Vampire’ and GUTS (let us be dramatic, please) with no content. We barely survived the 38 days between ‘vampire’ and her younger, wilder sister, ‘bad idea, right?’ If ‘vampire’ showed off her maturity, ‘bad idea, right?’ showed us that her fun side was here to stay.
From the spoken verses to the playful lyrics, ‘bad idea, right?’ certainly piqued our curiosity. The music video finds Olivia in a Y2K-inspired house party with some besties that may look familiar (especially to those of you who have followed Olivia since the Bizaardvark days). Olivia left us with two songs that are so different, and it only made it harder to wait the next month (32 days, if you were counting) until GUTS.
GUTS
Finally, Olivia is back! Let’s be honest, though. Olivia could have taken all the time in the world for the masterpiece she came back with. For all the teenage girls reading this, we’ll speak for you. This album is the ultimate anthem for teenage girls everywhere. From the opening ‘all-american b*tch,’ to the closing ‘teenage dream,’ Olivia describes everything from the impossible standards for young women to the simultaneous desire to grow up paired with the pain of doing so. To all of our non-teenage girl readers, don’t worry. This album has something for everyone. She echoes the light and mischievous style of ‘bad idea right?’ with ‘get him back!’ and ‘ballad of a homeschooled girl.’ But she also delves into tougher subjects with more emotional melodies with ‘logical’ and ‘making the bed.’ Looking through the track list, we still can’t believe she delivered such a perfect album.
VMA Awards
Remember that ‘vampire’ music video? Well, Olivia brought it to life at the 2023 VMAs. The lights spark out above her, and the curtains fall onto the stage. She is ushered off the stage, only to return for a triumphant performance of ‘get him back!’ The staged malfunction looked so real we can’t help but imagine what it was like to be in the audience. Did Olivia really look panicked? Because from our end, she did. She should consider acting!
GUTS Performances
The VMA disaster was a perfect way to introduce GUTS to the world of live performances, but Olivia didn’t stop there. She went straight from a Noah Kahan cover at the BBC Live Lounge to a show-stopping set on Jimmy Kimmel Live. We hate to pass over the Noah Kahan cover so quickly, as we feel like it was done specifically for us, but there are so many Olivia live performances for us to recap we can’t afford to linger on one. Recently, she wrapped up the year with a musical guest appearance on SNL and gave us an early Christmas present with her set at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.
‘Can’t Catch Me Now’
Even with the hype for GUTS, we could never forget about Olivia’s part in the The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes soundtrack. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what a perfect fit this song was to the ending. If you haven’t seen it… what have you been doing? This recap is about Olivia Rodrigo, not the Hunger Games. But Olivia made herself a part of it, so we have every right to tell you to drop everything and watch it right now.
We truly saw Olivia Rodrigo’s “face in every place” (the trees, the breeze, etc.) this year. We couldn’t have gotten away from her if we wanted to. And we never would’ve wanted to. Did we miss your favorite Olivia Rodrigo memory from 2023? Let us know in the comments or by tweeting us at @thehoneypop!
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