NEWS
Olivia Rodrigo
Louis Browne*Olivia Rodrigo is capping a blockbuster year with the broadcast of her Austin City Limits set — and before it airs on PBS, Billboard is premiering her ACL performance of “drivers license,” the song that started a successful year of firsts for the singer/songwriter.
“This is the first song I ever put out, and it’s really special to me, so sing along if you know it,” the 18-year-old says in front of a grand piano before launching into the heart-wrenching breakup track.
During the performance, the camera cuts to the audience full of Rodrigo’s young fans mouthing the lyrics to the song. The fans can be heard chiming in to sing the song’s now-iconic chorus — “And I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one/ And I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone/ Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me/ ‘Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street.”
Rodrigo’s appearance at the Austin City Limits music festival — which took place on Oct. 2 — marked her first full-set live performance and official debut at the concert series, where she performed a total of eight tracks from her debut album, Sour. Rodrigo also performed with an all-female band, a first for ACL.
Rodrigo’s Austin City Limits performance premieres Saturday on PBS (check your local listings). Rodrigo shares the episode with Phoebe Bridgers, who also made her ACL debut this year. The second half of season 47 of Austin City Limits will continue starting Jan. 8.
Watch Rodrigo perform “drivers license” below.
Dave Mustaine has chosen to bring Megadeth to an end after completing one final tour due to ongoing health challenges.
The band plans to step away next year once they wrap up their farewell run and release their final album. Frontman Dave, 64, has now shared that he reached this decision because arthritis and issues with his back have left him “unable to give a hundred per cent every night”.
Speaking on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Dave said, “It had been building up for a long time, just physical things happening with my hands … My hands were starting to fail me.
“And there were other difficulties tied to everything going on with my neck and my trunk. That whole area has arthritis and some bulging discs.
“I have a fractured lumbar bone. And of course, my back has been fused near my shoulders and neck. There is just a lot going on …
“I always said that when the time came where I could no longer give a hundred per cent each night, that would be the moment I would start thinking about slowing down.”
He continued by sharing that the choice became clear after the band completed recording their final self-titled project.
Dave explained, “It was not that I couldn’t give a hundred per cent, because we finished the album and I feel we did well with it, but while we were working I had a moment where I told my manager … ‘I am not sure how much longer I can continue. My hands are really hurting.’
“I did not intend to set things in motion. I was just talking, but it led to conversations with the band, then taking time to reflect, speaking with my family, and praying about it.
“And the answer was obvious to me that by the time the album was finished, I would know how it would perform. If it does really well, I can still deliver one final strong tour.
“And the idea of a farewell feels connected to that. We have certain shows we want to play so we can say goodbye to the people who have supported us.”
Dave added, “We are an American band, but we perform all over the world. We are not weekend performers like some country acts in the States. We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to say goodbye the right way.”
The band’s seventeenth studio album, Megadeth, will arrive in January, and their This Was Our Life tour begins in Canada in February.
