Olivia Rodrigo, Music’s Teen Sensation

The 18-year-old from Murrieta, Calif., wasn’t supposed to release an album this year. She had a prior acting commitment to Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Oh, and she had to finish high school. But Rodrigo was undeterred after the success of Drivers License, and she finished what would become her album, Sour, in just a couple of months. When it dropped in May, Sour was the most successful release of the year (Drake and Kanye West have since eclipsed Rodrigo), selling the equivalent of 295,000 albums. In June all 11 songs—34 minutes and 46 seconds of heartbreak and teen angst—were on the Billboard 100’s Top 30 at once.

Like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake before her, Rodrigo can attribute some of her success to being part of the Disney machine. The speed with which Sour took off also speaks to how fast hits can be made in the era of streaming and social media—even without touring, she was instantly as popular in the Philippines as she was in the U.S.—as well as to the universality of a well-crafted breakup album. You don’t have to be a teenager to appreciate Drivers License (“You said forever, now I drive alone past your street”) and Good 4 U (“You’re so unaffected, I really don’t get it/ But I guess good for you”).