'90s Metal Band Lured Olivia Rodrigo's Mom from Her Headlining Set
Olivia Rodrigo's third album releases today, but last night she went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and told a story that proves sometimes music is stronger than blood. Her mom, she explained, skipped her headlining set at Lollapalooza to see Korn.
Rodrigo, 23, stopped by the ABC late-night show on Wednesday to perform 'The Cure' and promote you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, which arrives today via Geffen Records as her follow-up to 2023's Guts. The visit turned into something much more quirky than a standard promo stop. Kimmel asked about her family, and what she shared were stories of a household with considerably more eclectic taste than anyone might expect from the parents of a giant pop music star.
'My mom likes so many crazy metal bands, which you would never guess just looking at her,' Rodrigo told Kimmel. She recalled headlining Lollapalooza in 2025 and finding herself scheduled opposite Korn on a different stage. Festival logic suggested a clean division in which 'the Olivia fans will go see Olivia, the Korn fans will go see Korn, there's really no overlap.' Well, there was one overlap. 'It was my mom. My mom skipped my show to go see Korn. I let her do it. I'm happy she got her night.'
The story about her dad was equally unexpected. Rodrigo's father, she said, has seen The Cure perform 30 times. When he finally met Robert Smith (who collaborated with Rodrigo on the album track 'what's wrong with me' and performed with her at Primavera Sound this spring), the reaction was not what you'd expect from, as Rodrigo put it, someone who 'is like a protector.' 'The tears started welling up in his eyes," she said on the show. His phone screensaver, she added, is now a photo of himself and Smith.
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The album title itself, Rodrigo revealed, came from a single random comment. She and longtime producer Dan Nigro were talking about her life when he said, out of nowhere, 'you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love.' Her response: 'That's it. That's the title we've been searching for so long.' The record, she told Kimmel, is about romantic love 'in a nuanced way, it definitely has its highs and lows.'
When Kimmel guessed that 'stupid song' would be the album's biggest hit, Rodrigo explained the title isn't self-deprecating, but rather about the limits of language. 'When you're trying to write about something that's as deep and all-encompassing as romantic love,' she said, 'every song feels a little bit frivolous.' (The lyric at the center of it: 'I want you more than any stupid song could ever say.')
You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love is out now on Geffen Records. Rodrigo's Unraveled Tour begins September 25, 2026.
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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 8:12 AM.