America’s sweetheart Olivia Rodrigo has courted some major controversy for her recent performance of “Drop Dead,” although the media storm probably came as a surprise to her. Olivia’s cut of her new hit for the Spotify Billions Club in Spain was an absolute bop, but the headlines in The Guardian, CNN, and Rolling Stone weren’t talking about the music. Instead, it was Olivia’s short babydoll dress, which certain netizens slammed as being “childlike” and “inappropriate.”
As for the musical side, Olivia was firing on all cylinders during the May 27, 2026, performance. Her live shows are always packed to the brim with star power and incredible live vocals. You gotta respect that she always brings the goods live, often outdoing her studio recordings. The Music Man readers will definitely want to tune in at 0:12, which is the most replayed part of the performance. Here Olivia sings the opening lines and gives the cutest reaction to the crowd already knowing her new song’s lyrics.
Olivia spoke on the New York Times podcast, saying the brutal criticism was making her “so upset.” She clapped back at the critics, calling their complaints “weird” and saying: “What’s really disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing on stage. Like, I’ve been on stage in like a sparkly bra, little shorts, which is my right. That’s fun. I felt cool and comfortable in that. And that wasn’t ‘inappropriate’ – but me fully covered up in a dress that people deem to be childlike was inappropriate.”
Olivia dropped not one but two viral vids from her Spotify Billions Club performance in Barcelona, the second being her 2023 hit “Vampire.” This is not an easy song to sing live, but The Music Man has to say Olivia crushed it. A number of viewers noted that the performance was a great showcase for her growth as a live vocalist and that she now makes singing her toughest songs look effortless.
Babydoll dresses were first produced by American designer Sylvia Pedlar. She launched the very short nightgown design in 1942, due to the limited availability of fabric during the Second World War. She intended the design as women’s nightwear, not for children, although similar designs did subsequently become popular both for infants and women. The 1956 film Baby Doll, which starred Carroll Baker, turned babydoll dresses into an enduring fashion trend for women. Babydoll dresses also became an iconic outfit for female punk rockers in the ‘90s. Olivia touched on this following the controversy, “I didn’t think I looked sexy in that at all… I was like, ‘This is so cool. I feel like I look like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love,’ all these people who are my heroes.” Courtney herself subsequently posted a series of Reel reposts on her Instagram that showed support for Olivia and roasted the younger singer’s critics.