All White, Red Ribbons, and a Crying Dad: Olivia Rodrigo's Last Act Before the Album
Hours before her third album dropped at midnight, Olivia Rodrigo performed 'the cure' on national television for the first time — all white, red ribbons, full band. She also told Jimmy Kimmel why her dad cried when he finally met Robert Smith, and how a Thanksgiving family ballot picked the singles.
Last night, a few hours before her third album arrived, Olivia Rodrigo stood on the Jimmy Kimmel Live stage in all white — dress, spotlight, everything — and sang "the cure" for the first time on national television. Red ribbons tangled around her. The crowd barely breathed.
It was the last thing she did before you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love dropped at midnight. 1
The performance
Rodrigo performed "the cure" with her live band on a set draped in red microphone cords. Rolling Stone described the setup: the singer wore a white gown and sang surrounded by "a pile of red microphone cords." 2
The lyrics: "My head is full of poison, and my heart is full of doubt / I got toxins in my bloodstream and you tried hard to suck 'em out." And the chorus: "And it feels like medication, and it's good for me, I'm sure / But it don't matter how your love feels anymore."
"the cure" had already opened at No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 and debuted at No. 1 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs — Rodrigo's sixth top five and eighth top 10 on the Hot 100, adding to four chart-toppers. 1 Performing it on national TV for the first time, the night the album lands, was the right call.
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Her dad cried
The interview that preceded the performance might be the sweetest pop story of the week. Rodrigo told Kimmel that her father, Chris — a "diehard super fan" of The Cure who has seen the band 30 times — met Robert Smith backstage in Barcelona at Primavera Sound. 3
"He's a dad, he's like a protector," she said. "They saw each other, and the tears started welling up in his eyes."
She demonstrated the selfie pose her father and Smith took together, then added: "His screen saver on his phone is a picture of him and Robert like that." 3
It explains why "the cure" exists as a song title, and why "drop dead" — the album's lead single — contains a reference to The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." The fandom runs in the family.
How she picked the singles — Thanksgiving ballot
Rodrigo also told Kimmel how she chose which tracks to release first. Last Thanksgiving, at her family's place in Wisconsin, she turned the lights down low — "I was really shy, and so nervous to see their faces while they heard the songs" — played the full album for aunts, uncles, and cousins, then had everyone cast a ballot.
"Everyone liked 'The Cure' the most. That was the No. 1 that we got." 3
She also told Kimmel she shot the "drop dead" music video at the Palace of Versailles, and explained the album's title: "The record is about being in love, but in sort of a nuanced way. It definitely has its highs and lows. I thought that the title really captured that." 2
The album runs 13 tracks split into two halves: Side A — "Girl So in Love" (tracks 1–7: "drop dead," "stupid song," "honeybee," "maggots for brains," "u + me = <3," "my way," "purple") and Side B — "You Seem Pretty Sad" (tracks 8–13: "the cure," "begged," "what's wrong with me" feat. Robert Smith, "less," "expectations," "cigarette smoke"). 4
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One more moment: babysitting for Kimmel
In a pre-taped segment titled "Dreams Come True," Kimmel let Rodrigo do something her early fame had denied her — babysit. Ten children belonging to his staff were placed in a dressing room with her. It went about as chaotically as you'd expect.
"Sour, I was 17 when it came out," she told Kimmel. "Guts, I was 20. Now I'm 23, so I'm going to get really drunk. So I'm really excited about that. Now I'm of age, I can properly do it." 3
you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is out now on Geffen Records. The Unraveled Tour — 86 dates across North America, Europe, and the UK — kicks off in September.
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