Here's How Taylor & Olivia Became Super-Fast Friends
Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo have been serving up friendship goals since January 2021 when Rodrigo's debut single "drivers license" hit streaming services. Swift has been one of Rodrigo's most vocal supporters, posting about her music multiple times, and giving her shine on her social media pages. There's no doubt Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo's friendship is going strong, but here's the story of how it took off at lightning speed.
Rodrigo and Tay actually go all the way back to early 2020, long before "drivers license" was released. That April, Rodrigo covered her idol's song "Cruel Summer," and Swift caught wind of the video. She was so impressed the reposted the clip and said, “The talent. Love this!”
Swift and Rodrigo's friendship got even more solid when "drivers license" made its way onto the U.S. iTunes Chart. Rodrigo's song sat at No. 3 just below Swift's at No. 2, and being next to her idol was almost too much to handle.
"Next to taylor on the us i tunes chart i’m in a puddle of tears," Rodrigo captioned an Instagram post at the time.
As if the moment wasn't already emotional enough, Swift commented on the post with a supportive message that further sent Rodrigo into a puddle of waterworks. "I say that's my baby and I'm proud," Swift said. Rodrigo even used audio from a throwback Taylor Swift acceptance speech (from when she was Rodrogio's age) for effect.
Rodrigo's lyrical prose at such a young age began drawing comparisons to Swift, which was also unfathomable to her. After seeing Pete Davidson compare her to Swift on Saturday Night Live, Rodrigo was in disbelief.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they were going to do a ‘drivers license’ sketch where they played the entirety of ‘drivers license,’” she said in an interview with Radio.com in March. “And Pete Davidson, who is my biggest celebrity crush, was singing it and comparing me to Taylor Swift, who is my idol. It was just insane."
It became increasingly clear just how close the two singers had grown when a present from Swift arrived on Rodrigo's doorstep in early March. During a March 3 interview with SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up, Rodrigo revealed the thoughtful gift Swift sent her.
"She is absolutely the kindest individual in the whole world," said Rodrigo. "Actually, last night, literally like 12 hours ago, I got a package from her with this like handwritten note. And she gave me this ring because she said she wore one just like it when she wrote Red and she wanted me to have one like it and all of this amazing stuff, she's like hand-wrapped these gifts."
"I truly don't understand where she finds the time, first of all. But, like also, I feel so lucky that I just was born at the right time to be able to look up to somebody like her," Rodrigo gushed.
The best exchange yet between the two singers arrived on April 8, when Swift enlisted Rodrigo to help her promote her Fearless (Taylor's Version) album. Along with Conan Gray, Rodrigo created a hilarious Instagram reel where they acted out the lyrics to "White Horse."
Swift revealed on her Instagram story she put them up to the challenge, and actually sent them a number of songs from her forthcoming album.
"You ok? No cause I sent my two kids Olivia and Conan my new version of 'You Belong With Me' and THEY ARE SO CUTE IT PHYSICALLY HURTS ME," she said, before plugging her album release at midnight.
They may share some similarities, but there's zero competition between Swift and Rodrigo. They're there to cheer each other on every time they release new music.
