At Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS Tour in Chicago, Illinois, on March 19, 2024, the singer announced in the middle of her hit song “get him back!,” that “GUTS (spilled),” the deluxe version of her latest album, would be released the following Friday.
The deluxe version would include five songs: one that was previously released only on vinyl and the rest brand new.
“‘GUTS (spilled)’ put into words what healing from a toxic situation looks like,” said Bailey Parker, a junior English major. “It also puts into words what being in a relationship with someone you don’t love as much as they love you looks like, what having a crush on your boyfriend looks like and what jealousy looks like in such a beautiful and emotionally vulnerable way that most girls either can relate to or put themselves into.”
Many of Rodrigo’s fans were quick to show support for the album. The songs associated with the deluxe release got 59,820,552 streams in the first week. The deluxe version of Rodrigo’s sophomore album won Billboard’s Top New Music of the Week only a day after release, winning 43% of the vote.
“They were some of her most well-written songs to date and were absolutely emotionally brilliant,” Parker said. “She is one of the greatest songwriters of our time, and these songs, specifically ‘stranger,’ my favorite, are testaments to that.”
The most streamed song on the album was “obsessed,” which Rodrigo revealed she and collaborator Daniel Nigro wrote three years ago. The song received 23,030,275 streams on Spotify alone and included a music video release on YouTube with over 7 million views.
The second most famous song was “so american,” which received 13,760,966 streams and the artist stated on her Instagram account she was “especiallyyy excited about.” Many fans were quick to realize the song was about Rodrigo’s relationship with English actor Louis Partridge. The two were confirmed to be dating in October 2023, when Partridge was spotted at many of Rodrigo’s tour stops. The two are a fan-favorite pairing, with many fans showing support for the young star-studded couple.
Even with “obsessed” and “so american” winning in terms of streaming numbers, fans showed much love for all of the artist’s new songs, which showed a variety of emotions through a relationship.
“I tend to enjoy her slower songs, so I was a big fan of ‘scared of my guitar,’” said Kara May, a junior nursing major. “Her fast-paced stuff is fantastic too, but I love how she expresses her emotions during her slower pieces. ‘scared of my guitar’ is just so emotional and gut-wrenching that you can’t help but love it.”
At just 21, Rodrigo jumped to No. 2 in the charts, sold over 73,000 copies of the deluxe edition, and had the second biggest release week on Spotify in 2024, just behind Ariana Grande. All of this was achieved by releasing only five songs. The three-time Grammy Award winner still has much to look forward to in her career. Only into month two of her seven-month tour, when the artist has received over $4 million in revenue, Livies, a name for Rodrigo fans, can look forward to what promises to be a very successful career for Rodrigo.
