Olivia Rodrigo made a surprise appearance at a New York City open mic last night (April 26) – check out footage of the moment below.
- Read More: Olivia Rodrigo live at Glastonbury 2025: A Robert Smith-assisted ending to stand the test of time
The ‘deja vu’ artist is gearing up to share her third studio album, ‘You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love’, which is set to arrive via Geffen on June 12 – pre-order/pre-save your copy here. So far, she’s shared the lead single ‘Drop Dead’ and debuted it live during her surprise appearance in the middle of Addison Rae’s set at Coachella.
Last night, she stopped by Pete’s Candy Store to perform a pared-down version of the track at the Williamsburg venue, which has hosted an open mic every Sunday for over two decades and has featured artists including Norah Jones, Vampire Weekend, Joanna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens, and more.
After her surprise appearance, Brooklyn-based artist Industry Monk shared a clip of his performance from the night, writing: “Me, unaware I was opening for Olivia Rodrigo.” Other fans took to social media to express shock that the former Glastonbury headliner was working such intimate rooms.
“[She] somehow feels like an underrated indie artist and a huge pop star at the same time,” wrote on fan on X. “And I mean that as a compliment.”
🚨 | OLIVIA RODRIGO JUST PERFORMED “drop dead” AT AN OPEN MIC IN NEW YORK CITY pic.twitter.com/OMuGoQM2wi
— pop_insider 🤍🖤 (@PInsider_) April 27, 2026
The track itself features a reference to The Cure, with Rodrigo singing: “You know all the words to ‘Just Like Heaven’/ And I know why he wrote them now that you’re standing right here”.
The nod to the band came after she brought out Robert Smith during her headline set at Glastonbury last summer, performing ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and ‘Just Like Heaven’. Rodrigo then released the duets with Smith as part of her ‘Live From Glastonbury 2025’ album.
Her stop at the open mic follows a similarly intimate performance held on Friday (April 25) as part of the album rollout, which saw her bring out Weyes Blood at an invite-only show at LA’s The Echo. That gig saw to two debut a new track from the upcoming album described by Rodrigo as “karaokable if you’re sad.”
The official album announcement came after weeks of speculation, after cryptic pink album teasers cropped up around Los Angeles and London. In a recent interview with British Vogue, the record was described as Rodrigo at her “most experimental”, with one track being labelled as “smooth, trippy soft rock”.
Rodrigo herself told the publication that the album consists of “sad love songs”, adding: “I realised all my favourite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them.”
“I’ve found a lot of inspiration from being in London,” she added. “I’ve spent so much time here over the course of making this album. It has a lot of songs that are London vibes, about experiences that I’ve had here.
“It was a creative challenge to write from a joyful place. When you’re experiencing that you’re connected to someone, or feeling really good, you’re not in your head thinking about bittersweet poems!”
