OLIVIA Rodrigo was joined by special guest Lily Allen as she brought a stunning set of pop-punk anthems and heartbreak ballads to Glastonbury Festival this evening.
The 19-year-old American singer-songwriter and actress performed in front of thousands of fans on The Other Stage.
She invited Allen, 37, onto the stage to perform her 2009 single ‘F*** You’ in response to the US Supreme Court overturning a ruling that has protected women's right to an abortion across the country for nearly 50 years.
Like Billie Eilish last night, Rodrigo expressed her dismay following the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade verdict.
She described performing with Allen as “the biggest dream come true” but said: “I’m devastated and terrified, so many women and so many girls are going to die because of this.”
Allen's entry for the third-from-last song of Rodrigo's hour-long set brought one of the loudest cheers and singalongs of the evening from the enormous audience before the pair shared a long embrace.
At the start of her set, Rodrigo emerged after her five-piece, all-female band teased her entry several times to build anticipation ahead of her hit single ‘Brutal’ from last year's UK number one album Sour.
She then launched into a reimagined punk-pop version of ‘Jealousy Jealousy’, a tongue-in-cheek song about the effect social media has on young people's perceptions of themselves.
Speaking to the audience for the first time, Rodrigo said: “I've never seen so many people in my life, I'm so nervous! My name's Olivia, and we're going to have the best time.”
The standout performance from Rodrigo's solo set was heartbreak piano ballad ‘Drivers License’, described by the singer as "the song that changed my life forever”.
She played the sleek black grand piano in the centre of the stage, smiling as the vast crowd sang the closing verses for her in Worthy Farm's early evening sunshine.
“Thank you Glastonbury, that was very special,” she told her audience.
When she was not sat at her piano, Rodrigo walked, ran and danced across her stage as she delighted fans with tracks from Sour, a cover of Avril Lavigne's ‘Complicated’ and a rendition of ‘All I Want’, the first song she ever had released as part of TV show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
the moment @oliviarodrigo welcomed actual Lily Allen to the stage and i started screaming x
— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) June 25, 2022
watch on @BBCiPlayer | listen on @BBCSounds pic.twitter.com/ySJnEbsLFy
She was handed a purple guitar for ‘Hope Ur OK’, a hopeful song wishing the best for people from her past who suffered because of their identity (“My middle school friend grew up alone, she raised her brothers on hеr own, her parents hated who shе loved”).
The live version of the song, which showcases some of Rodigo's finest lyricism, evolved to include more drums throughout its opening verses, though its bridge remained as beautifully minimalistic as ever.
This was followed by three songs Rodrigo “wrote alone in my bedroom about the boyfriend I didn't feel good enough for”: ‘Enough For You’, ‘1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back’ and ‘Happier’.
She added: “Now I get to play them for the biggest crowd I've ever seen at Glastonbury, so that's pretty cool.”
Before Allen's appearance, festivalgoers were treated to ‘Favorite Crime’, a song written with producer Dan Nigro from a poem she wrote, and ‘Traitor’, which laments the betrayal of a former beau.
Once the ‘Smile’ and ‘The Fear’ singer had left the stage, Rodrigo ended her memorable set in euphoric fashion with ‘Deja Vu’ and ‘Good 4 U’.
Like Eilish, Rodrigo will be remembered for showing her prodigious talent at Worthy Farm and for adding her name to the list of people who have used their platforms to speak out about their beliefs.
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