Olivia Rodrigohas shared aDavid Byrnecover of ‘DriversLicense’ and announced a vinyl reissueto markthesingle’sfifth anniversary.
The song was first released on this date (January 8) in 2021, the debut single for Rodrigo and the first taste of her debut album ‘Sour’. The song topped charts around the world and broke theSpotifyrecord for the most single-day streams for a non-holiday song.
To mark its fifth birthday, Rodrigo has shared a cover of the song by theTalking Heads frontmanand her former collaborator Byrne. In an Instagram post, she described Byrne as “one of my all-time heroes”,saying: “Iactually criedwhen I heard his version of this song”.
The cover is described as the first in a series of covers to mark the fifth anniversary of ‘Sour’,and it will be released on a special editiontranslucent ruby7”, which fans can orderhere.
The B-side of that single will include the live version of Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’ which Rodrigo and Byrne performed during theformer’sheadline set at New York’s Governors Ball last summer.
Rodrigo shared another Instagram post celebrating the anniversary of ‘Drivers License’. “Happy 5 years of drivers license!!!” she wrote. “Looking back at these pics I feel like I look like a baby but it also feels like just yesterday lol. this song has totally changed my life in ways I still can’t totally wrap my head around. I’m forever grateful for this magical chapter and I can’t wait to scream red lights stop signs with u guys at every concert I play for the rest of my life! happy birthday.”
After their Governors Ball appearance together,Byrne later hailed Rodrigo’s “great relationship with her audience”,saying that “not only do they know the songs,theymean something to them”.
NMEspoke to Rodrigo a few months after the success of ‘Drivers License’andher performance at the 2021 BRIT Awards.“It’s absolutely mind-blowing to me”,she said. “I was so nervous rehearsing for it and my team were like, ‘It’s fine, there’s just going to be 45 people’ andI’mlike, ‘Yeah but the 45 people are going to beHarry StylesandDua Lipa; that’s so scary!’”
Rodrigo has recently been speaking about finding inspiration fromThe Cure,New Order andJoy Division, having beenjoined by CurefrontmanRobert Smith during her headline set at Glastonbury 2025for versions of ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and ‘Just Like Heaven’.
She alsocovered The White Stripes’ ‘We’re Going To Be Friends’ at the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonyin November, the same month thatshe slammed the White House for using her music in a promotion video for ICE.