Olivia Rodrigo is the moment. The 20-year-old singer-songwriter is currently preparing for the release of her second album GUTS and during a recent press trip to London, she was presented with a BRIT Billion Award by the BPI.
Launched back in May 2023, the BRIT Billion award celebrates artists who have surpassed over one billion career UK streams, as calculated by the Official Charts Company. More than 85% of the UK’s recorded music consumption now takes place through streaming therefore this award reflects the ever changing musical landscape.
Olivia joins the initial wave of 13 artists to receive this accolade, including ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, AJ Tracey, Headie One, Anne-Marie, Ellie Goulding, George Ezra, Lewis Capaldi, RAYE, Rita Ora and Sam Smith. Other recent recipients of the award include Lana Del Rey, Queen, Wizkid, Becky Hill, and James Arthur.
Olivia’s global success has been astonishing, however, she has particularly thrived in the UK market. This multi-talented artist shot to number one with her official debut single ‘drivers license’, which has since been certified 2x platinum and also won International Song of the Year at the BRIT awards 2022 with ‘good 4 u’.
In May 2021, Olivia released her debut album SOUR and at just 18 became the youngest solo artist in history to claim Official UK Chart Double with the album and third single ‘good 4 u’ being number one at the same time. The following month, she became the first female solo artist to claim three simultaneous UK Top 5 singles with ‘good 4 u’, ‘deja vu’, and ‘traitor’.
Her success continues today as Olivia is currently riding high on the UK charts with the lead singles from her forthcoming album GUTS, due for release on September 8. Lead single ‘vampire’ is currently number three, whilst the follow up single ‘bad idea right?’, which is currently a trending sound on TikTok, is sitting pretty at number six.