Olivia Rodrigo Talks ‘Heartbreak Songs’ and Going to Therapy on ‘CBS Sunday Morning’

Olivia Rodrigo appeared on CBS Sunday Morning — from the childhood bedroom where she wrote many of what became her hits — to discuss her meteoric rise over the past year, her new album Sour and going to therapy.

CBS’ Tracy Smith first gave viewers a rundown of Rodrigo’s career so far, noting how the singer’s singles are often tales of teenage breakups.

“I’ve always been obsessed with heartbreak songs. I wrote heartbreak songs before I ever had a boyfriend, honestly,” Rodrigo said. “I’ve always been obsessed with that feeling. There’s nothing more painful that being in that feeling of loss.”

As for her smash “Drivers License,” “I just remember writing it and feeling like it was a page ripped out of my diary, because it was so intimate and vulnerable,” Rodrigo said. “I just think there was no other option for me: I had to write it, I had to write it for me, to get it out. I would feel sick if I kept all of that in, but really at the core of it I had to do it for myself. 

She added, “I was really sad, I was a 17-year-old girl going through my first real heartbreak, but I think a lot of people also think that — listening to my music — I’m a sad, depressed person; that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Definitely not crying on my bedroom floor all the time.”

Rodrigo also revealed that she has been seeing a therapist since she was 16 years old. “That was a really big, life-changing moment, and I’ve learned so much about myself,” she said.

“I think there’s sometimes a stigma around it, too. Sometimes people are like, ‘You don’t need that. You have so much. Your life is so great. What are your problems?’ I think that’s a thing that sometimes older people can do to younger people too, just trivialize what they’re going through… But it feels so real when you’re in it, it feels so valid. Just because it’s not an adult problem, where you don’t have to pay taxes yet or whatever, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.