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Olivia Rodrigo reveals she has ‘minor’ synesthesia: ‘When I listen to songs, I’ll see colours’

‘When I listen to songs, I’ll see colours’ singer says

Peony Hirwani
Friday 13 May 2022 05:39 BST
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Olivia Rodrigo wins Grammy for Best New Artist

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Olivia Rodrigo has revealed that she has “minor” synesthesia.

Synesthesia is a neurological condition when a person experiences one of their senses through another. For instance, when someone hears music, they see shapes. Or they hear a word or a name and instantly see a colour.

During an interview with Vogue for the Met Gala, the 19-year-old singer revealed she has “minor, baby synesthesia”.

“When I listen to songs, I’ll see colours,” Rodrigo said, before revealing the colours of many songs on her debut album Sour.

“Lots of the songs on Sour are purple,” she told the magazine. “‘Driver’s License’ is purple, but ‘Good 4 U’ is like a purpley-blue.

“‘Jealousy, Jealousy’ is a bright red, ‘Deja Vu’ is like orange and pink and light purple,” she said. “I like having purple as the cohesive colour throughout my whole Sour era.”

Earlier this year, Rodrigo won Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Pop Vocal Album awards at the Grammys.

Olivia Rodrigo poses at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on 3 April in Las Vegas
Olivia Rodrigo poses at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on 3 April in Las Vegas (AP)

The singer also took to the Grammy stage for the first time, performing her hit song “Drivers License”.

Rodrigo also made BTS fans go wild over her cameo in the South Korean boy band’s performance of their song “Butter”.

The performance started with Rodrigo sharing a moment with V, as the band member went down to where the Best New Artist winner was sitting in the audience and whispered something in her ear.

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