It's only been 10 months since pop singer and ruling queen of the Billboard charts Olivia Rodrigo dropped her mammoth debut single "drivers license," but you would be forgiven for thinking it was even longer considering all the 18-year-old has since achieved. Rodrigo has released four subsequent singles, appeared in the entirety of season two of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, held a private prom for her fans, and started a friendship with her idol Taylor Swift.
Rodrigo's chart-topping first album SOUR was released in May, debuting atop the Billboard 200 albums chart and staying in the top 10 on the chart since its release. Recently, it received seven nominations from the Grammys. And even though the album has only been in our lives for six months, fans are already clamoring for more, wondering if she is recording her second album and whether it will feature her new bestie Conan Gray.
6 Who Is Conan Gray?
At this point Olivia needs no introduction, but for the uninitiated, her bestie Conan Gray is a 22-year-old musician from California. He grew up in Texas and moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA, but has since deferred his studies to focus on his career. He is signed to Republic Records and released his debut album Kid Krow in March 2020, where it reached number five on the Billboard 200, making it the biggest US new artist debut of the year. Gray was friends with Billie Eilish before they both achieved success, and credits her with helping him find a path through fame.
5 How Long Have They Been Friends?
Gray and Rodrigo both share a music producer in Dan Nigro, who produced all eleven tracks on Rodrigo's SOUR album and has worked with Gray since 2018. Speaking to UK radio show Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp in March 2021, Rodrigo said of Gray, "Conan's a friend of mine, and the guy who produces most of my music produces most of his. We're just pals and I think he's so brilliant." Gray told Hits 1 LA that "she's just the best. I love her so much. We have tons of fun together. She reminds me a lot of my little sister. We very much are siblings in every single way I could think of."
4 What Does Taylor Swift Have To Do With It?
Rodrigo and Gray have made it absolutely no secret that the pair of them were "raised by Taylor Swift," and ultimately name her as their biggest inspiration in music. Rodrigo even interpolated Swift's 2017 song "New Years Day" on her SOUR song "1 step forward, 3 steps back," saying of the song, "I think they're really beautiful chords. I was lucky enough to get that approved, and it's on the record now." Swift is equally enamored with the two friends, promoting their music online, and has even referred to the pair as her kids on social media. Back in April 2021, ahead of the release of the re-recording of her Fearless album, Swift sent them the "Taylor's Version" of her song "You Belong With Me," and the besties filmed a montage to the original song's music video. It was the three-way collaboration of our dreams.
3 Collab Rumors?
Rodrigo and Gray's friendship first came to light when the "déjà vu" singer posted a screenshot of her text messages with Gray to her Instagram story. The exchange showed Gray telling Rodrigo she had "just left two pistachios in the studio" accompanied by an image of exactly that. The image sent Twitter into a frenzy about a potential collab, but when asked about what song the pair were working on by Capital Breakfast, Rodrigo evaded the question, steering the conversation toward her favorite studio based snacks, and suggesting they simply shared the same studio because they share the same producer. Rodrigo didn't deny a potential song with her friend, but she certainly didn't confirm anything either. No collaboration materialized on her album which came two months later. Was she simply evading because she had no answer, or balking because the project might be coming on Gray's new album?
2 New Music From Conan?
Gray released new single "Telepath" in October, his fourth release so far in 2021. The new song came after the "Heather" singer had announced plans for a world tour in 2022, presumably to tie in with his forthcoming album, which the singer has described as "very all over the place." Could one of those places be a collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo? When asked about Rodrigo in a zoom press conference with Q 105.1 FM on November 24, Gray jokingly replied "no we never talk about music, it's strictly off-topic! We're not allowed to talk about it!" before laughing and adding "no we talk about music all day long. We both are just huge music nerds and I love songwriting and she's a wonderful [songwriter.]" Why so secretive Gray?
1 What Are The Fans Saying?
Fans have been following the movements of the gen Z megastars since their friendship became public knowledge in March 2021, analyzing their movements to divine whether they are collaborating or not. But so far all we seem to know is that they have been jamming out to Swift's rerecordings, Rodrigo invited Gray to her SOUR prom, they went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios together, and last week, Gray supported Rodrigo at the American Music Awards where she won Best New Artist. While no collab is confirmed, Rodrigo did express a desire to work with Swift one day. And with Swift releasing more and more "From The Vault" tracks with featured artists on her re-recorded albums, maybe the collab will surprise us all, appearing Speak Now (Taylor's Version).
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