Olivia Rodrigo gave fans an unexpected small-room moment on Sunday, April 26, making a surprise appearance at an open mic night at Pete’s Candy Store.
The pop star stepped onto the stage at the beloved, tiny, neighborhood bar and live music venue to perform a stripped-back rendition of her new single, “Drop Dead,” offering the kind of intimate set usually reserved for emerging local artists.
Speaking of which, Brooklyn-based songwriter Industry Monk shared footage from the night online, joking in the caption: “was a pleasure to accidentally open up for @oliviarodrigo @petescandystore today,” capturing the surreal surprise for everyone in the room.
The appearance comes as Rodrigo ramps up promotion for her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, which is set for release on June 12. And this is such an amazing way to build marketing momentum towards one of the biggest releases of the year; with intimacy and secrecy.
This same week, Madonna, too, made an impromptu appearance at the West Hollywood club, The Abbey, at 1am to perform new music for the unsuspecting crowd.
And a few months back, Hypebot reported on Billy Joel joining a Billy Joel cover band unexpectedly for a few songs down in Wellington, Florida.
Surprise appearances by the world's biggest stars don't happen everyday; and I guess it's difficult to plan if or when that'll ever happen. But if you ever want to accidentally open for Olivia Rodrigo, there's only way to do it:
Keep getting up on stage.
