red lights, stop signs
i still see your face in the white cars, front yards
can't drive past the places we used to go to
'cause I still fuckin' love you, babe
You know what’s a crazy butterfly effect we never talk about?? The musical film ‘Grease’ eventually leading to Olivia Rodrigo’s fame. Think about it:
The film ‘Grease’ was released in 1978, and its immense success led to the sequel ‘Grease 2’ (1982). In 1999 a script for ‘Grease 3’ was developed, but the project was shelved until 2004 when the script was adapted into ‘High School Musical’. ‘High School Musical’ was then released in 2006, becoming an instant hit and earning the film two sequels. The movie series had such lasting fame, that in 2017 a TV show inspired by the film series was developed titled ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ (‘HSMTMTS’ for short). Olivia Rodrigo was cast as one of the leading roles in the show, and was given the opportunity to write an original song for her character - the song she ended up writing titled ‘All I Want’. Upon the release of ‘HSMTMTS’ in 2019, ‘All I Want’ began gaining popularity and charted on the Billboard Hot 100. This gained Olivia interest from label executives, and she ended up signing a record deal with Interscope/Geffen. During Olivia’s time on ‘HSMTMTS’ she met and dated a fellow co-star, and their subsequent break up inspired her to write the song ‘driver’s license’. She then released ‘driver’s license’ as her debut single in 2021, and the song charted at number 1 and skyrocketed her to a whole new level of fame.
So without ‘Grease’, you wouldn’t have ‘High School Musical’, and without ‘High School Musical’ you wouldn’t have ‘HSMTMTS’, and without ‘HSMTMTS’ Olivia would not have written the song that got her a record deal or met the person who inspired ‘driver’s license’, and THAT is how Grease led to Olivia Rodrigo’s fame over 40 years after its release.
Today, we celebrate the third anniversary of "Drivers License," the song that propelled Olivia Rodrigo to the top of the Hot 100 and maintained its position for 8 weeks. The song became a global phenomenon, reaching the top of the charts in various countries. It garnered praise from critics and received significant attention on social media. "Drivers License" broke several records, including the most streams in a single day on Spotify for a female artist. Congratulations, Olivia, on this hit. ❤