Olivia Rodrigo has been teasing something related to her 2021 debut single “drivers license,” and today (1/8), on the 5th anniversary of its release, she’s shared a new cover of it by David Byrne, with whom she shared the stage at Governors Ball last year. Byrne puts his own spin on “drivers license” and it’s a pretty fun listen that I certainly wasn’t expecting. Hear it below.
Byrne’s cover is also available as a 7″ vinyl with the recording of his and Olivia’s “Burning Down the House” performance from GovBall on the b-side. It’s available for pre-order now.
“My new friend Olivia Rodrigo invited me to interpret her 1st single to be paired with a release of our live cover of Burning Down The House,” Byrne writes. “I discovered that her song resonates (I changed a few words!) and is universal – we all have those feelings and have had that experience… I recorded this while on tour in Atlanta and Miami with the incredible musicians, singers and dancers who are with me. We all had a great time!”
Byrne’s cover is the first in a series of SOUR covers Olivia says are still to come. “SOUR is turning 5 years old this year!,” she writes, “and to celebrate, i’m so excited to announce an upcoming series of reimagined SOUR covers from some of my favorite artists ever. we’re starting off insanely strong with an incredible reworking of ‘drivers license’ from one of my all-time heroes, David Byrne. David is nothing short of a legend and I actually cried when I heard his version of this song.”
Byrne, who has also been collaborating with Hayley Williams lately, is about to begin the next leg of his tour supporting last year’s Who Is The Sky later this month.