Happy Hour: Olivia Rodrigo’s Heart of ‘Daisy Chains’

She’s got big “expectations” — and they’re on track to change the world.

On Aug. 29, thousands of fans flocked to sunny Great Park in Irvine, CA. for the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields Festival  — a celebration of feminist music founded and headlined by pop-rock artist Olivia Rodrigo. 

Following the release of Rodrigo’s third studio album “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” the one-day summertime serenade highlighted over 14 female artists, several woman-designed art installations and many partnerships with woman-centered non-profit organizations, including Planned Parenthood.

The songwriter’s been a long-time outspoken advocate of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, where her mainstream collaboration with the sexual health care organization sings volumes of her feminism.

According to the mission statement posted on the festival’s website, Daisy Chain Fields is more than just a high-energy concert to musically mosh over. 

“It provides opportunities for education, dialogue and engagement around issues affecting women and girls in the United States and globally,” the statement reads. 

But the equitable collaboration behind Daisy Chain Fields is just the stem of Rodrigo’s blossoming efforts toward autonomy rights.

Just weeks before her 2023 GUTS World Tour, the former Disney Channel star announced her Fund4Good initiative — a global charity dedicated to funding equitable nonprofits supporting the success and safety of women and girls. 

The legacy-building fund raised $2 million from GUTS tour sales alone, sending donations to the National Network of Abortion Funds, Women’s Shelters Canada and Women Against Violence Europe. 

This trend continues down the rabbit hole of the “drop dead” singer’s Unraveled Tour, where a portion of all ticket sales will support the fan-favorite philanthropic fund. 

Now, Rodrigo’s symphonic hum of humanitarianism culminates in her latest and most awe-inspiring charitable effort — a $10 million donation for each of the 10 Daisy Chain Fields nonprofit partners.

The 23-year-old announced the lovingly “logical” donation at her festival’s Aug. 28 press conference, expressing her continuing support for global organizations honoring marginalized voices like Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health and beyond.

In angelic harmony with the theme of social change, the three-time Grammy winner also revealed her inspiration for the Daisy Chain Fields concept — Lilith Fair. 

Founded by Canadian artist Sarah McLachlan, Lilith Fair was a groundbreaking conglomeration of feminism, highlighting women artists and bands historically marginalized by the music industry.

“At the time of Lilith Fair, women were told that they couldn’t lead a festival, that no one would come, that they couldn’t get sponsors,” Rodrigo said at the conference. “And those women proved everyone wrong.”

And that’s just what Daisy Chain Fields did. 

The 40,000-plus attendees of the sold-out, fiercely feminist experience honored women pioneers like McLachlan, celebrated some of the biggest women singers of the current charts and declared unwavering support for young women of the future. 

Rodrigo exemplifies how actions often speak louder than words, and as a final “happier” touch to her initiative’s mission, every melodic earning behind the Fields’ symphony of net proceeds was donated.

One thing’s for sure — Daisy Chain Fields is just the beginning for Olivia Rodrigo, but her advocacy efforts shouldn’t come as a surprise. She’s a philanthropist, feminist, vocalist and trailblazer for human equity.

And she’s the same girl she’s always been.