Did You Know that Olivia Rodrigo is Part Filipina?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this past month, there’s a huge chance you may heard of the heartbreaking ballad “Drivers License” that’s been playing basically everywhere. With vocals reminiscent of the quavery crooning of Lorde and Taylor Swift, the song was released on January 8, and has then become the biggest song on the planet, as per Billboard.com. 

Amazingly enough, “Driver’s License” is the debut single of singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo. Also another fun fact: Olivia is half Filipina! Yes, her father is a full-blooded Pinoy. Her mother is of German and Irish descent, which is why she has stunning Caucasian looks. But let’s admit it: any race mixed with Filipino blood looks gorgeous though, right?

While Rodrigo may have been born and raised in California, USA, she shared in a 2017 Disney Channel feature that her family stays true to their Pinoy roots by instilling Filipino values such as being respectful at all times, and of course, making Filipino food. Her favorite? Good ‘ol lumpia!

In case she looks a bit familiar to you, here’s a little refresher. The 17 year old’s music career may have started just this 2021, but she’s been in the limelight for a few years. She headlined Disney Channel’s show Bizaardvark, which ran from 2016 to 2019. She was also one of the stars of the Disney+ remake of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

Whether or not you’re getting sentimental over your first (or current) heartbreak with “Drivers License,” it cannot be denied that Rodrigo has great potential. She joins the ranks of the likes of Enrique Iglesias, Nicole Scherzinger and fellow High School Musical (the OG version) star Vanessa Anne Hudgens as Pinoys making waves on the international music scene, and her star is just on the rise.