FILIPINA American Disney star and singer Olivia Rodrigo’s official debut single “Drivers License” is shaping up to be a chart-topping hit.
After its release on January 8, the song has been dominating the charts of major streaming platforms.
It climbed to no. 1 on the U.S. iTunes Top 100 chart, Apple Music’s Top 100: Global chart, and Spotify’s Global Top 100.
On Monday, the track — surpassing Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” — set Spotify’s record for most streams in a day for a non-holiday song with over 15.17 million global streams; the day after, it hit 17.01 million streams. As of Friday, January 15, it earned the biggest weekly streaming debut for any song in U.S. Spotify chart history with 30.433 million streams.
The 17-year-old star of “Bizaardvark” and “The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” on Tuesday took to Instagram to express her excitement over the success of her single.
“Uhhhhhh so drivers license is the number one song in the world rn. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this. Thank u guys so much for listening. I can’t believe this is real life,” wrote Rodrigo.
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In an earlier post, Rodrigo shared a screenshot of the U.S. iTunes chart showing her single behind the songs of Grammy-winner Taylor Swift, one of the teen singer’s biggest inspirations.
“Next to Taylor on the U.S. iTunes chart I’m in a puddle of tears,” she wrote.
Days later, Swift replied to the post, saying: “I say that’s my baby and I’m really proud.”
“Drivers License” has amassed over 24 million views on YouTube since its release.
Rodrigo was born to an American mother of Irish and German descent, and a Fil-Am father.
In an interview with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), she talked about the Fil-Am side of her family.
“My great-grandfather immigrated here from the Philippines when he was just a teenager. He’s my grandma’s dad, and my grandpa is also Filipino as well,” she said.
“My dad grew up in a house where they were always making Filipino food, his grandpa always spoke Tagalog. All of those traditions have trickled down to our generation. Every Thanksgiving we have lumpia, and things like that,” she added.
Rodrigo also revealed that she wants to go to the Philippines one day.
“I have never been to the Philippines, but I really, really want to. We still have extended family there, but I’ve never met them. That’s on my bucket list, definitely,” she said.
