This weekend, as we all finally get to fangirl over Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album, Guts, I need to talk about something unexpected I learned about the gifted singer/songwriter. Sure she’s well known for loving the Twilight franchise, but I just found out she also was so into Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series that it has inspired her songwriting, and it’s a fun fact too good not to share.
Thanks to the official Twitter account for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series digging up an Olivia Rodrigo tweet from years ago, I can geek out about her love of the fandom. Check it:
*desperately searching for percy bonus tracks* https://t.co/0PsbB922upSeptember 8, 2023
The Percy Jackson Twitter account must have done some serious scrolling to find this 3-year-old tweet of Rodrigo talking about the franchise. I am so happy they did, because I love that she was into this book series so much it inspired some of her early music. The account must have been waiting for the day of the release of Guts to share her tweet along with a fun comment about looking out for a “percy bonus track” on her new record.
While we don’t know the context as to why Rodrigo got talking about Rick Riordan’s Greek mythology books back in April 2020, she did share that she’s got a ton of “cringe” Percy Jackson songs she wrote that are sitting somewhere collecting dust. I absolutely love that before fans of Rodrigo were assuming her songs were about people like Taylor Swift, she straight up just took inspiration from the storylines of the Percy Jackson series.
Premiere Date: December 20, 2023
Created By: Rick Riordan & Jonathan E. Steinberg
Starring: Walker Scobell, Aryan Simhadri, Leah Jeffries, Lance Reddick, Toby Stephens, Megan Mullally, Jason Mantzoukas, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Copeland and more.
Where To Watch: Disney+ subscription
Olivia, the world needs to hear your moody ballads inspired by the book series about the young demigods of major Greek royalty!!
While Olivia Rodrigo loving Twilight and apparently writing some tracks inspired by Edward and Bella’s romance is definitely on brand, I have to admit this Percy Jackson tweet threw me off guard, and I really have to wonder what those songs might sound like.
While Guts is an autobiographical account of Olivia Rodrigo’s life as a teenage girl, apparently the singer has turned to fiction before to cure her writer’s block. Years before “Vampire” became a hit, Rodrigo took to Instagram (via Teen Vogue) to say “Not me having [writer’s] block and writing a pop song about Bella Swan moving to Forks and meeting Edward Cullen in a science lab.” It sounds like sometimes she uses her favorite things as prompts for her writing, and honestly, what an amazing way to get inspired!
Aside from this tweet, Rodrigo has definitely been way more public about her love for Twilight over Percy Jackson. When she announced the first single off her new album was “Vampire,” Taylor Lautner even commented on the whole thing. Then, when she released it, she shared old drawings inspired by Twilight from when she was 5 years old.
Considering Rodrigo’s mega fame, you gotta love how much of a bookworm fangirl she was and is. Now, all we need is her Percy Jackson songs to make their way into the Disney+ series based on the books that premieres on the 2023 TV schedule December 20.