Olivia Rodrigo has become the youngest person ever to receive the BRIT Billion Award.
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Rodrigo ā who is currently only 20 years old ā scored the landmark achievement in mid-July, but was presented with the award last weekend (August 17) while the singer was in the UK to promote her latest single ‘Bad Idea Right?’.
The BRIT Billion Award, which was introduced earlier this year, recognises artists who achieve an astounding one billion digital streams in the United Kingdom. Other artists who have received the award so far since its inception in May includeĀ ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Lana Del Rey, Queen, Becky Hill, James Arthur, Rita Ora, Lewis Capaldi and Ellie Goulding.
Olivia Rodrigoās highly anticipated sophomore album āGutsā is set to release on September 8 via Geffen (pre-order/pre-save here). So far, two songs have been released from the 12-track album; Juneās lead singleĀ āVampireāĀ andĀ āBad Idea Right?āĀ earlier this month.
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Rodrigo recently revealed the full tracklist for the recordĀ which is the follow-up to the artistās Grammy-winning debutĀ āSourā. It will feature the cuts āAll American Bitchā, āBallad Of A Homeschooled Girlā, āLove Is Embarrassingā, āPretty Isnāt Prettyā and more.
Earlier this summer,Ā the singer explained that she had already come up with the title for her forthcoming second album before āSourā had even seen the light of day. āI had it in my head. Iām like, āFour letters, all caps, just like āSourā,ā she recalled. āI love it. I just think itās an interesting word.ā
Rodrigo’s 2021 debut album ‘Sour’ scored a four-star review from NME upon its release, with Rhian Daly writing: “When your first release is a track as ubiquitous as ādrivers licenseā, it must be tough going to make a whole album that matches up. For the most part, Rodrigo has passed the bar she set on that single, sharing with us an almost-masterpiece thatās equal parts confident, cool and exhilaratingly real. This is no flash-in-the-pan artist, but one weāll be living with for years to come.”
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