Olivia Rodrigo has revealed that she has recently found inspiration from the likes of The Cure, New Order and Joy Division.
The singer-songwriter made an appearance on the latest episode of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame podcast Music Makes Us, which is presented by Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill.
During the wide-ranging, hour-long chat, the pair spoke about Rodrigo’s love of The White Stripes (after she covered ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’ at the Rock Hall ceremony recently), Hanna’s early Riot Grrrl days, and more.
At one point, the ‘Guts’ pop star gave a potential hint at the sound of her third studio album by name-checking some of the acts she’d been enjoying lately.
“I did Glastonbury with Robert Smith of The Cure. After that, I’ve been diving deeper into The Cure’s discography, as well as some of their contemporaries like New Order and Joy Division,” she explained.
Rodrigo performed The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and ‘Just Like Heaven’ with Smith when she headlined Glasto’s Pyramid Stage in June. She introduced the frontman by calling him “perhaps the greatest songwriter to come out of England” and “a personal hero of mine”.
She later shared some photographs from Worthy Farm, including her hanging out and doing shots with Smith backstage, and going to bed wearing a Cure T-shirt. She was also captured on video while on someone’s shoulders during Pulp’s secret set.
Earlier this year, Rodrigo released her collaborations with Smith from her new ‘Live From Glastonbury 2025’ album.
Elsewhere in her recent podcast appearance, Rodrigo was asked by Hanna about the album she returns to when “you need to reconnect with yourself”.
In response, she explained: “[Alanis Morissette’s] ‘Jagged Little Pill’ when I’m feeling, like, I don’t know what to say or like, who am I?” For some reason, that album [is] just like… every part of what makes a human being a human being it feels like it’s encapsulated in that record.
“There’s so much anger and spite and jealousy but also so much joy and hope, all like intertwined into each other in such a beautiful way.”
Rodrigo went on to say that “there’s something so special about rock music made by women”.
“There’s a different emotional quality to it,” she told Hanna. “The pain and rage and vulnerability that a woman can express through a rock song is an entirely different category. Growing up I was so inspired by that.”
In 2023, Rodrigo spoke about going to watch The Cure and Depeche Mode live with her dad. The Vogue interview noted that the singer’s parents were mainly into “grunge, rock and alternative” music when she was growing up, citing the likes of No Doubt, The White Stripes, ’80s metal and Riot Grrrl.
During a conversation with NME in 2021, Rodrigo said both her mother and father were “music heads” and had encouraged their daughter’s artistic endeavours from an early age.
“I love pop-punk music; I love grunge music; I love country music and folk music,” she explained at the time. “I think, honestly, you can see little influences of all of those genres in my [debut] album [‘Sour’].”
This summer also saw Rodrigo bring out Weezer to perform with her at Chicago’s Lollapalooza, and invite David Byrne to join her on stage at Governors Ball in New York City.
Later, Byrne said the singer had cultivated a “great relationship” with her audience. “Not only do they know the songs,” he explained, “they mean something to them.”
