Olivia Rodrigo has shared a David Byrne cover of ‘Drivers License’ and announced a vinyl reissue to mark the single’s fifth anniversary.
The song was first released on this date (January 8) in 2021, the debut single for Rodrigo and the first taste of her debut album ‘Sour’. The song topped charts around the world and broke the Spotify record for the most single-day streams for a non-holiday song.
To mark its fifth birthday, Rodrigo has shared a cover of the song by the Talking Heads frontman and her former collaborator Byrne. In an Instagram post, she described Byrne as “one of my all-time heroes”, saying: “I actually cried when I heard his version of this song”.
The cover is described as the first in a series of covers to mark the fifth anniversary of ‘Sour’, and it will be released on a special edition translucent ruby 7”, which fans can order here.
The B-side of that single will include the live version of Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’ which Rodrigo and Byrne performed during the former’s headline set at New York’s Governors Ball last summer.
Rodrigo shared another Instagram post celebrating the anniversary of ‘Drivers License’. “Happy 5 years of drivers license!!!” she wrote. “Looking back at these pics I feel like I look like a baby but it also feels like just yesterday lol. this song has totally changed my life in ways I still can’t totally wrap my head around. I’m forever grateful for this magical chapter and I can’t wait to scream red lights stop signs with u guys at every concert I play for the rest of my life! happy birthday.”
After their Governors Ball appearance together, Byrne later hailed Rodrigo’s “great relationship with her audience”, saying that “not only do they know the songs, they mean something to them”.
NME spoke to Rodrigo a few months after the success of ‘Drivers License’ and her performance at the 2021 BRIT Awards. “It’s absolutely mind-blowing to me”, she said. “I was so nervous rehearsing for it and my team were like, ‘It’s fine, there’s just going to be 45 people’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah but the 45 people are going to be Harry Styles and Dua Lipa; that’s so scary!’”
Rodrigo has recently been speaking about finding inspiration from The Cure, New Order and Joy Division, having been joined by Cure frontman Robert Smith during her headline set at Glastonbury 2025 for versions of ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and ‘Just Like Heaven’.
She also covered The White Stripes’ ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’ at the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November, the same month that she slammed the White House for using her music in a promotion video for ICE.
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