Sheryl Crow can’t help but be impressed by Olivia Rodrigo. In fact, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member says the “Drop Dead” singer-songwriter is a source of inspiration for her own career, now more than three decades since Crow’s debut, 1993’s Tuesday
Night Music Club.
“There are a lot of really authentic young artists out there, many of which are women I love and admire and inspire me to keep going,” Crow tells Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast. “And she’s at the top of that list for me.”
Crow praises Rodrigo, a likely nominee when Grammy nominations are announced on Nov. 16, for her songwriting (“She’s very, very clever”) and her musicianship, which she says can often be overlooked when an artist also exists “in the world of beauty and curated fashion.”
But she’s particularly taken with the activism and giving back that Rodrigo has made part of her career. She cites Rodrigo’s all-women festival last August, Daisy Chain Fields, as an example. “She’s doing the work, and when I spoke to her the other night, I said, ‘You cannot underestimate the trail you leave behind you of goodness,” Crow says. “The way you affect people, the way you motivate people to look around and go, ‘I got turned on to this charity at Daisy Chain.’ It’s like the Lilith [Fair] thing — let’s all be a part of our community.”
Crow and Rodrigo’s history goes back to 2023, when the pair performed together at Nashville’s Bluebird Café and later at Crow’s Rock Hall induction. They also shared a stage in Nashville during Rodrigo’s tour date at Bridgestone Arena. Most recently, Rodrigo sang “Strong Enough” at an industry dinner honoring Crow.
“She’s a really good person,” Crow says. “I related to her so much because I met her parents, who were very involved… They raised her with expectations that you are going to grow up and be a thoughtful, good person…. It reminds me of my parents.”
Watch Crow’s full interview here. Her new album, Pick You Up, is streaming now.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by Deputy Editor, Head of Country Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Shania Twain, Shaboozey, Vince Gill, Lainey Wilson, Ashley McBryde, Brothers Osborne, Maggie Rose, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Kings of Leon, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, the Black Crowes, Braxton Keith, Carly Pearce, Amy Grant, Luke Grimes, Brandon Lake, Breland, Bryan Andrews, Noeline Hofmann, Adam Mac, Aaron Raitiere, Devon Gilfillian, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Michaela Anne, Ink, Ne-Yo, Rival Sons’ Jay Buchanan, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, Clever, Love on the Spectrum’s Tyler White, Willie Nelson scholar John Spong, and authors Marissa R. Moss, Josh Crutchmer, Mark Gray, and Jonathan Bernstein.
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