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
Comments
Olivia Rodrigo wins Grammy for Best New Artist

Support truly
independent journalism

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

Editor

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.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in