Olivia Rodrigo sends fans wild as she brings out Ed Sheeran at huge sold out BST gig ahead of Glastonbury slot

The Irish Sun

5 hours ago

OLIVIA Rodrigo sent her fans wild tonight when she surprised them by bringing out Ed Sheeran at her sold out BST gig in Hyde Park.
Just two days before she closes Glastonbury Festival, Olivia proved why she's one of the best pop stars on the planet with a set jam-packed with catchy, angsty anthems.
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Olivia Rodrigo performed a powerful set at BST tonight
Credit: AP
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The singer had a special guest waiting in the wings
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Ed and Olivia performed his hit The A Team
Credit: The Sun
And superstar Ed's cameo was the icing on the cake of a glorious sunny day in the capital.
Drivers License singer Olivia, 22, dressed to impress for her huge headline show, kicking off in a black sequined leotard.
Ahead of the performance, she was able to unwind in her own private sanctuary with organisers adapting the backstage area with wildflower planters.
And it was much needed as Olivia used up every ounce of energy in a lively set split into three parts.
READ MORE ON OLIVIA RODRIGO
It was in the final part that Ed came out for a rendition of his early hit The A Team, having watched the show from the side of the stage.
Olivia introduced him as "one of the best songwriters of all time".
There were famous faces in the crowd including James Corden, who stood beside Olivia's boyfriend Louis Partridge, and Sabrina Carpenter, who will perform on the same stage next week.
Ed's no stranger to guest appearances, having stepped on stage with everyone from Limp Bizkit to Stormzy and Taylor Swift.
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And his acoustic anthem lent itself perfectly to
Disney
Channel starlet to 46million monthly listeners on
Spotify
, 14 Grammy nominations and collaborations with David Byrne and
.
Olivia Rodrigo praised for her 'iconic' FireAid performance - but fans all have the same complaint
In 2016, Olivia was cast in Disney's Bizaardvark and three years later she starred in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, a mockumentary that sees a bunch of teens putting on a stage production of the hit.
Between High School Musical takes, the young actress worked away on her guitar, writing more music, until eventually Disney bosses invited her to create an original song for her character to sing in the show.
The piano ballad that emerged — All I Want — went viral, and she was soon in line for a record deal.
But unlike others who went from Disney favourite to superstar, such as Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, Olivia shunned the in-house label and decided to do things her own way.
Everything changed overnight in January 2021 when Olivia released her debut single Drivers License in the middle of
winter
lockdown.
It became the first song on Spotify to hit 80million streams in just seven days.
The tune also shot straight to No1 on charts globally and propelled her into what she called a 'crash course in adulthood'.
'That was the craziest time of my life,' she said back then.
'I was sitting in a grocery store parking lot, and I called my A&R guy.
'It had just gone No 1 on Apple music, which is hard for a pop act to do.
'We were looking at each other on FaceTime, speechless.
'That was the moment I knew that it was going to be something bigger than I expected.'
Her second single, Deja Vu, was certified four times platinum in the States, then May 2021 saw the release of her debut album Sour, with pop-punk hit Good 4 U going six times platinum in the US.
She earned rave reviews from critics, while artists including Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne heaped praise upon her.
Her first live performance in the UK was at the Brit awards in 2021, while her festival debut here was at Glastonbury the following year.
In just a few short years, she's now at the very top of the pile, holding her own beside fellow headliners
The 1975
and Neil Young.
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Ed loves collaborating with artists from all genres
Credit: The Mega Agency
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Olivia says she'd prefer to be known as a great songwriter than a pop star
Credit: Getty