Olivia Rodrigo’s live shows have become a place of celebration and collective catharsis. From belting back the soaring ‘Drivers License’ with your arms around your best pals, to rocking and raging out to pop-punk anthem ‘Good 4 U’, her live shows feel truly special. And if you’re lucky, some of these shows come with an extra special surprise, in the form of a secret guest. From Lily Allen at Glastonbury, to Avril Lavigne in Toronto, across Rodrigo’s strings of live shows she’s been delighting fans with shock on-stage collaborations. With Rodrigo’s second album ‘Guts’ set for release in September this year, we can keep our fingers crossed for some live dates in support of the upcoming record; but while we’re waiting, let’s take a look back at some of Olivia Rodrigo’s best ever on-stage collaborations.
Billy Joel – ‘Deja Vu’ and ‘Uptown Girl’
Rodrigo’s indie pop belter ‘Deja Vu’ she reflects on an ex who’s recycling moments from their relationship with a new beau, seething: “I’ll bet that she knows Billy Joel/’Cause you played her ‘Uptown Girl’/You’re singing it together/Now I bet you even tell her/How you love her/In between the chorus and the verse”.
Well, turns out Olivia got the last laugh, as in August 2022 she joined the piano man himself on stage at Madison Square to perform both the aforementioned break-up belter, as well as Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’. With Joel introducing Rodrigo as “a very talented singer-songwriter” and explaining “I like her music and so do my kids”, and Rodrigo revealing “I’m such a huge fan and I kind of wrote this next song [‘Deja Vu’] about you,” it’s a celebratory performance from Rodrigo and a musical hero.
Lily Allen – ‘Fuck You’
Olivia Rodrigo’s early evening set at Glastonbury 2022 was a highlight of that year’s installment of the festival. Coming almost 18 months since her breakout smash ‘Drivers License’ was released and promptly went stratospheric, it felt a proper “moment”, and as The Forty-Five said of her stellar set at the time: “the teen queen flawlessly delivers her heartbreak anthems to an absolutely bloody massive crowd”.One of the highlights of this glittering performance was when Rodrigo brought out Lily Allen for a rousing rendition of Allen’s 2009 hit ‘Fuck You’. Dedicating the track to the Supreme Court Justices, who had just overturned Roe Vs Wade, Rodrigo introduced the track by saying: “I wanted to dedicate this song to the five members of the supreme court, who showed us that at the end of the day truly don’t give a shit about freedom”.
Avril Lavigne – ‘Complicated’
A cover of Avril Lavigne’s early noughties pop-punk anthem ‘Complicated’ was a staple of the setlist when Rodrigo embarked on her Sour Tour, but audience members who bagged tickets to the Toronto show got an unique version of the tune. For one night only, Avril Lavigne herself joined Rodrigo on-stage to perform the hit tune, with Rodrigo explaining that Lavigne is an artist who “who broke down so many barriers and opened so many doors to girls like me”. Rocking out together on-stage, it was Rodrigo performing with an artist who helped pave the way for her.
Conan Gray – ‘The One That Got Away’ (Katy Perry cover)
At another stop on the Sour Tour Rodrigo was joined on-stage by her close pal Conan Gray, with the duo covering Katy Perry’s ‘The One That Got Away’. With Gray revealing to the audience that they had : “sung this song on her [Rodrigo’s] bedroom floor many times”, they shared a stunning, country-inflected version of the tune. Stripping the glossy pop hit back, their voices only accompanied by an acoustic guitar, it’s a truly lovely cover.
Natalie Imbruglia – ‘Torn’
When the Sour Tour swung by London town, Rodrigo prepared an treat for revelers attending the show in the capital. With Rodrigo introducing her secret guest telling the audience: “I think she’s the most fantastic singer, the most fantastic artist, she sings one of my favourite songs of all time ‘Torn’”, she then welcomed the Aussie artist on-stage to perform a rousing joint version of the tune.
Blu DeTiger + Towa Bird – ‘Brutal’
For Rodrigo’s Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U documentary film, Rodrigo revisited cuts from her debut album ‘Sour’. Switching up the arrangements, she reinterpreted the tunes, and while ‘Good 4 U’ got a cinematic string-laden make-over, ‘Brutal’ went in the opposite direction. Joined by bass virtuoso Blu DeTiger and guitar whizz Towa Bird, Rodrigo performed a rocked up version of ‘Brutal’ from an airplane graveyard in the Mojave Desert, delivering a sweltering new interpretation of the track.
