Olivia Rodrigo is starting to outgrow the heartbreak pop princess tag – and bringing icons like Debbie Harry with her.
Olivia Rodrigo’s career has moved at a pace that doesn’t leave much room to settle into anything.
One minute she’s on Bizaardvark, the next she’s breaking streaming records with ‘drivers license’ and getting boxed in as the face of heartbreak pop.
It’s the kind of trajectory that builds hype just as quickly as it builds expectations, and Saturday Night Live is usually where that gets tested properly.
Over the weekend, Rodrigo stepped into that exact pressure point, pulling double duty as both host and musical guest on the May 2 episode.
The performances doubled as a first proper preview of her third album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, due June 12.
She opened with ‘Drop Dead,’ a sharper, more guitar-led track introduced by Debbie Harry, before pivoting into ‘Begged,’ an unreleased ballad staged on a swing, with backing vocals from Weyes Blood.
It leaned theatrical without tipping over, still intimate, but clearly more considered in how it’s presented.
Outside the music, it was the hosting that did a lot of the work. Her monologue went straight at her own backstory – poking fun at her Disney years and reworking ‘drivers license’ into a DMV joke that shouldn’t really work, but does.
@nbcsnl @Olivia Rodrigo ♬ original sound – Saturday Night Live
The sketches followed suit. A Devil Wears Prada parody – featuring a surprise turn from Adam Driver – quickly became the clip doing the rounds, while a chaotic “Shop TV” segment showed she’s comfortable playing things broader when needed. It’s not a full pivot into comedy or anything like that, but it does a nice job of rounding out the picture.
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There’s also a bit of context worth noting. Rodrigo becomes just the 20th woman to handle both hosting and musical duties on the show, and the first host born in 2003 – a small stat, but one that underlines how quickly she’s moved into this space.
More than anything, the episode feels like a quiet turning point. The new material, the tour announcement, the way she carries herself across the whole thing – it all points to someone settling into a bit more control.
Oloiva Rodrigo’s Unravelled Tour kicks off this September.
