Pop queen Olivia Rodrigo is helping inspire a new generation of fans — particularly women — to pick up the guitar.
But Rodrigo — whose guitar-driven anthems have earned her three number-one singles, topping the Billboard charts for a combined 11 weeks — has always worn her influences on her sleeve. One young fan, the daughter of one of those very influences, learned that in the most heartwarming way.
Bands such as the Breeders, Hole and L7 — along with the broader Riot Grrrl movement — are key to Rodrigo’s musical DNA. Their legacy of uncompromising songwriting and strong female voices helped shape her own artistic identity. It’s also why she tours with an all-female live band and frequently plays a custom-finished Music Man St. Vincent electric guitar.
In short, Rodrigo’s rock roots resonate throughout a sound that’s capturing a generation of listeners and helping return the electric guitar to the mainstream spotlight. But she’s never forgotten the artists who paved the way.
In a new interview with NME, Melissa Auf der Maur — who played bass on Hole’s seminal album Celebrity Skin — was asked whether she recognized the band’s influence on today’s artists. Her answer said it all.
“When I got my daughter tickets to see Olivia Rodrigo for her 13th birthday [in 2024], we got invited backstage,” she said. “Olivia Rodrigo said to my daughter, ‘Without your mother, none of this would have happened.’ That’s when it locked in for me that there are direct correlations.”
Auf der Maur added that she hears echoes of the ’90s alternative era throughout Rodrigo’s music.
“In Olivia Rodrigo’s records, I notice the ’90s influence in both the songwriting and production. And of course her debut album, Sour, has artwork that nods to Hole’s Live Through This, with the beauty-queen imagery. But hearing that said to my daughter, in front of me, was one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Nevertheless, Hole’s bandleader Courtney Love initially felt the similarities between the imagery were a little too close for comfort, sparking an exchange on X in 2021. Rodrigo later downplayed any tension between the two.
Regardless, it’s clear that Rodrigo is a champion of ’90s alternative rock and the strong female voices it platformed — with Auf der Maur firmly among them.
Elsewhere, producer and commentator Rick Beato has credited Rodrigo and fellow rising star Chappell Roan with bringing the guitar solo back into pop. Rodrigo’s 2025 live set reportedly featured seven of them, and she has even encouraged her lead guitarist to get more shreddy onstage.
Rodrigo was also on hand to help induct The White Stripes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in December, revealing that she once ran a fan page dedicated to Jack White’s band when she was just 13.
That same night, Warren Zevon was honored as well, with David Letterman delivering a moving tribute that included returning one of Zevon’s old guitars to the spotlight.
