NEED TO KNOW
- Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray revealed they give each other bad advice in a Q&A for Interview magazine
- Rodrigo said that Gray advised her not to release “Vampire” as a single
- Gray released his latest studio album, Wishbone, on Aug. 15
Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray have great chemistry — but maybe not the advice.
In conversation for Interview magazine, the duo revealed they almost deterred each other from releasing hit songs as singles.
“We notoriously give each other bad advice sometimes about samples,” Rodrigo, 22, admitted.
“On Superache, you played me ‘Memories,’ which turned out to be the biggest hit on the album,” she added. “Everyone loved it. And I remember hearing it for the first time being like, ‘I just think you have better songs.'”
Similarly, when Rodrigo was gearing up to release Guts, Gray, 26, thought that “Vampire” — which she released as a single — wasn’t her strongest.
“When I played you Guts, I played you ‘Vampire’ and I was like, ‘Isn’t this good?’ And he’s like, ‘Not for a first single,'” the “Lacy” singer recalled. “We’re notoriously wrong about each other’s songs. We’re just too close to it and can’t see the forest of the trees.”
Though they may not have had the best judgment for each other — Gray revealed that Rodrigo’s mom was always a fan of “Vodka Cranberry.”
“My mom loved it. My mom’s such a huge Conan fan. My whole family, actually. They travel miles to see you in concert,” she said.
The interview comes after Gray released his latest studio album, Wishbone, on Aug. 15.
In May, Gray opened up about the making of the album on Instagram, writing that it reminded him “of who I am, at an experimental time in my twenties.”
Meanwhile, Rodrigo and Gray go way back and initially bonded over music and producer Dan Nigro.
“We’re just pals and I think he’s so brilliant,” Rodrigo told Capital FM of her friendship with Gray in 2021.
Gray told PEOPLE in June 2022 that Rodrigo’s “a wonderful person and a very, very talented songwriter. It’s nice to have people that you can relate to.”
The following year, Gray celebrated the release of “Vampire” by posting a photo dump on Instagram, which featured a photo of him posing in front of the cover art for Rodrigo’s lead single.
Then, as Rodrigo posted about the song’s release on Instagram, he playfully commented, “edward and bela would be so proud,” in reference to the lead characters from Twilight.
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