Sour

Olivia Rodrigo was 17 when she released Sour, her debut album, on May 21, 2021. The project started as an EP, but after drivers license became a global phenomenon in January of that year, she and producer Dan Nigro expanded it into a full-length record. They recorded at Amusement Studios in Los Angeles, Heavy Duty Studios in Burbank, and Funk Studios in Salt Lake City, working remotely during the pandemic. The result is eleven tracks that clock in at just under 35 minutes, a tight, emotionally charged collection that blends bedroom pop, pop-rock, and confessional singer-songwriter intimacy.

Rodrigo wrote every song on Sour, co-writing most of them with Nigro. The lyrics zero in on the messy edges of teenage heartbreak: jealousy, betrayal, insecurity, and the kind of bitterness that feels enormous at 17. She has said the title came from wanting to embrace those sour feelings rather than pretend everything is fine. Musically, the album nods to 90s and 2000s alt-rock, the crunchy guitars on brutal, the pop-punk energy of good 4 u, but also makes room for quiet devastation, like the piano ballad happier or the stripped-back favorite crime.

Sour debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 295,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, the biggest opening for any album in 2021 at the time. It spawned five singles, four of which hit the top 10 of the Hot 100: drivers license (number one), deja vu (number three), good 4 u (number one), and traitor (number nine). The album won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2022 Grammys, where Rodrigo also took Best New Artist and Best Pop Solo Performance. As of 2026, Sour is certified 6x Platinum in the US and 4x Platinum in the UK, with over 18 million worldwide sales and 17 billion streams on Spotify, making it the most-streamed female album on the platform. [edit]