Filipino-American teenager Olivia Rodrigo has provided our country with pride as she climbs to the top of the United States-based Billboard Hot 100 chart with her official debut single “Drivers License”. The Hot 100 factors in radio airplay, sales data and streaming data, according to Billboard.
The piano ballad recently broke the Spotify record for most streams in a single week and saw the biggest first-week on Amazon Music.
“Drivers License” also parked atop the Official UK Singles Chart and Australia’s ARIA Singles Chart, peaking at number one in several countries. Born in California, Olivia is of Filipino descent through her father’s side and German-Irish descent through her mother’s side.
Rodrigo first rose to fame as Paige Olvera in the Disney comedy TV series “Bizaardvark” in 2016. She then played Nini Salazar-Roberts in “High School Musical: The Musical The Series”, a musical series on Disney+.
The 17-year-old rose to fame on the Disney Channel series “Bizaardvark” and Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical The Series”. In a 2017 Disney Channel video for the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Olivia narrated that her Filipino great-grandfather came to the US as a teenager on a boat to start a new life.
“I’m part Filipina from my father’s side,” she began. “I’m Olivia Rodrigo, I’m a Filipina and I’m a lumpia fan,” shared the 17-year-old, whose father grew up in a Filipino family that passed on Filipino traditions and delicacies like Lumpiang Shanghai or deep-fried ground pork wraps.
“Some traditions that came to my generation is that we actually make Filipino food. My great grandpa had a garden and he was also a really good cook. So we could make Filipino lumpias that are kind of like egg rolls and really yummy!”
According to her, she cherishes her Filipino values like being always kind, respectful and doing the right things.
“I have never been to the Philippines, but I really, really want to,” she told the Center for Asian American Media in an interview. “We still have extended family there, but I’ve never met them. That’s on my bucket list, definitely.”
With additional reports: The Philippine Star, Jan Milo Severo, Ratziel San Juan
Photo Sources: billboard.com, Billboard’s Instagram, Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram
