Most people don’t know that Olivia Rodrigo is partially deaf in one ear. The 23-year-old pop superstar has opened up about her hearing difficulties, confessing she has lived with the condition since childhood but has grown to find the humor in her condition.
Speaking on KISS FM UK to promote her new single what’s wrong with me – You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love – Olivia said, “There’s quite a lot that’s wrong with me. I’m actually like, 60 per cent deaf in my left ear. So, if you were to sit on this side of me and try to tell me a secret, I couldn’t make out what you were saying. So, if you tell me a secret, go right ear.”
While fans might be shocked that a Grammy-winning musician struggles with her hearing, Olivia admits it is just normal life for her, having previously told The Hollywood Reporter that she only discovered the issue during routine school health checks.
She said, “I never knew until kindergarten or so when they’re doing the tests on all the kids, and they were like, ‘Oh, you’re a little hard of hearing.’ It’s interesting.”
The resilient young star also revealed she shares a hilarious running joke about her senses with close friend and photographer Petra Collins. Olivia laughed, “She has really bad vision, so we always joke that I make music because I have bad hearing, and she takes photos because she has bad vision.”
Does Olivia have any other health issues?
Since bursting onto the scene in 2021 with her debut single Drivers License, Olivia has worked hard to protect her mental health, relying on a close circle of trusted friends to keep her grounded.
She previously told Vogue Singapore: “I’m taking it one step at a time. It can be really tough on your mental health, though. I’m grateful for the people who like me for me, and keep me separated from all the noise and tabloids or what people are saying about me on social media.”
© Zuma Press/The Grosby GroupWhat is the inspiration behind ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love’?
Rodrigo’s health revelation comes as her third studio album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love is racking up millions of streams around the globe.
The former Disney star has revealed the inspiration for the LP are the opposite feelings of joy and melancholy you can experience at the same time when you are in a relationship.
Speaking to Hits Radio, she said, ” I knew that I set out making this record wanting it to be about romantic love in more of a positive sense because I think my last two albums are notoriously very heartbroken and angsty and all that good stuff. But I wanted to challenge myself to write a love song and make something that kind of touched on some of the joyous parts of romantic love.”
© GettyShe continued, “And then over the course of making the album, I think I injected a lot of it with some sadness and some melancholy and fear. I think I realized that that’s something that all my favorite love songs had, was like a little bit of like sadness that really grounded it in something real.”
Adding, “So yeah, and that’s the title too. You seem pretty sad for a girl, so I love it, both sides of the coin. It’s just maybe a little more honest. I think being in a relationship and being like, everything’s so awesome, this guy’s so great but I think real life is always a little more complicated than nuanced.'”
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