Olivia Rodrigo Gets Vulnerable About "GUTS" During Intimate "NPR Tiny Desk Concert"
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Olivia Rodrigo has been booked and busy. In just the past two weeks, she rocked the stages of Los Angeles' Kia Forum, New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and Saturday Night Live’s Rockefeller studio ahead of her GUTS world tour, which kicks off February 23, 2024. Most recently, however, she brought her same energy and powerhouse vocals to a more intimate setting: NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
NPR’s small, trinket-filled office studio in Washington, D.C. was the perfect charming, cozy setting for Rodrigo to get vulnerable about some of the songs off of her second studio album GUTS. The Disney alum started with “love is embarrassing,” which she shared was the last song she added to her sophomore project.
“You know when you’re lying in bed and you’re playing back every embarrassing thing you’ve ever done and just cringing at yourself? I had one of those nights, and I woke up the next morning and I sat in my living room and wrote this song,” she said after jamming out on her iconic purple guitar. “It was super fun and quick, and I really love that song.”
She followed the anthem with her ballad “vampire,” which she told the audience took a lot more time and diligence to get right. “I’m really proud of the way it turned out,” Rodrigo said before showcasing her beautiful commanding voice, backed by her piano playing and backing vocalists.
The pop princess returned to her guitar to play “lacy,” which was just as mesmerizing and raw as it sounds on her record. She said the song came out of a poem she wrote for a class at the University of Southern California.
Rodrigo closed out her set with “making the bed,” which she prefaced with an honest, admirable reflection: “I feel like a big theme on this new album is, kind of, taking accountability for your actions and taking responsibility for all those things. I wrote this song about feeling like I was putting myself in positions or with people that weren’t bringing me ultimate happiness and peace. This song is my grappling with that.”
The 3-time Grammy Award winner first appeared on the public radio’s show in 2021 to perform songs off of her debut album SOUR—that time as a Tiny Desk (Home) Concert in a deserted DMV office due to pandemic precautions. In acknowledging her return to the series she said, “I’ve never been starstruck by a room before. This is a huge honor.”
In classic Olivia Rodrigo style, her outfit for the occasion was a little bit preppy, a little bit grunge, and a little bit delicate. She wore a black crochet dress that featured long sleeves and a lovely white Peter Pan collar. She finished off the look with her signature black winged eyeliner and wore her straight chocolate-brown hair down.
It’s been a big year for the pop star, who was nominated for six Grammy Awards last month. This week, she also joined Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa as the only female artists to have multiple songs with more than two billion streams on Spotify with SOUR hits “drivers license” and “good 4 u.”
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