Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy

Home / Entertainment / Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy

By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on March 15, 2024 at 1:45 PM EDT

Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding 'Good 4 U' singer Olivia Rodrigo, her music is going strong on Spotify.

The former Disney Channelstar has made headlines after she handed out condoms and Plan B at her recent concert, causing a stir amongst fans and social media users.

Despite the debate and conflicting opinions, Rodrigo's 'Sour' is still going strong on Spotify.

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Olivia Rodrigo's Recent Hand Outs

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy
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The ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ actress, who is currently on her Guts World Tour, gave out condoms and morning-after pills at her show in St. Louis, Missouri.

The parting gifts came after the state of Missouri began to enforce its ban on all abortions, except to save the life of the pregnant person.

Rodrigo teamed up with the Missouri Abortion Fund, which supplied the condoms and Plan B.

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Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M On Spotify

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy
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'Sour' is the debut studio album by Olivia Rodrigo, but it is still going strong. While the handouts have stirred up controversy, Olivia Rodrigo's music is still topping Spotify, as 'Sour' received 8,509,325 streams on Wednesday.

That is 47,970 more streams than Tuesday and 285,699 more than last Wednesday.

Rodrigo's 'Sour' album consists of brutally honest lyrics, which is something that fans can relate to.  “I definitely talked about my deepest, darkest secrets and insecurities on ‘Sour’ — which is sort of strange to be like, ‘Here, you guys can have this. Anyone who wants to listen to it can listen to it,’” Rodrigo says of her album.

Adding, “But it’s really empowering when it comes out, and it’s been really awesome for me to see people resonate with that vulnerability and relate to it.”

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Olivia Rodrigo 'Loves' Criticism

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy
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The reason Rodrigo says she connects with fans is because of the "specificity" in her songs.

“I think specificity is one of the most important things you can do as a songwriter,” Rodrigo said of writing music. “I love songs where you can listen to them and sort of feel like you’re in another world… and the way you do that is through imagery and details.”

Her songwriting has helped make her one of the biggest pop stars in the music industry today, which comes with critique and hate from some. But Rodrigo doesn't let that get to her.

“I love criticism, honestly,” Rodrigo tells Variety in a thoughtful tone, as if she’s confiding a secret. “I think I can grow so much from people being like, ‘Oh, I wish it was more like this,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh cool, this is my first album; I’m learning.’”

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Olivia Rodrigo Talks 'Sour'

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy
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Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' is filled with heartbreak ballads, with one of her biggest hits being 'Traitor', a song that touches on how emotional affairs can hurt just as much as physical ones -- which is something she initially thought wouldn't be relatable enough, but she was wrong.

“I wrote it on my bed while I was crying,” Rodrigo told Variety of the track. “I never really thought that it was going to be a song that resonated with so many people. I thought that it was a very specific situation that I was going through, and it’s so funny that that’s the non-single song that’s the most successful. So many people have been like, ‘How did you know? This is exactly what happened to me!’”

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Olivia Rodrigo's First Album Gains Traction

Olivia Rodrigo's 'Sour' Hits 8.5M Streams On Spotify Amid Controversy
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Her entire album isn't all about heartbreak, as her singles ‘Jealousy, Jealousy’ and ‘Brutal’

“I definitely saw ‘Sour’ as a kind of slice of teenage life,” Rodrigo told the outlet. “I think a big part of growing up is going through your first love and first heartbreak, and that was definitely reflected in the album, but I think songs like ‘Brutal’ and ‘Jealousy, Jealousy’ reflect the other parts of being a teenager and feeling insecure and not sure how you fit into the world.”

'Sour' is the debut studio album by Olivia Rodrigo.

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