VMAS 2023 couldn't have come at a better time for Olivia Rodrigo, fresh off her new album GUTS and new music video for '"get him back," the anthemic paradoxical revenge bop that she of course performed at VMAs 2023.
Related: Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS Isn’t About Girlhood. It’s About What Happens Next
Rodrigo started off by recreating the first half of the “vampire” music video in a red pleated skirt set, before the pretend stage malfunctions transitioned to new song “get him back” — with a squad of Olivia Rodrigo clones in long dark-haired wigs for maximum effect. The performance culminated in a massive group screaming session. Cathartic!
Rodrigo shared earlier this past week that the process for writing “get him back” was a a bit rocky. “Dan [Nigro] and I were at Electric Lady Studios in New York here and we were writing all day. We wrote a song that I didn't like and I had a total breakdown,” she told Apple Music. "I was like, 'God, I can't write songs. I'm so bad at this. I don't want to,' whatever, being really negative. Then we took a break and we came back and we wrote "get him back", and it's one of my favorite songs. So just goes to show you, just never give up … I really like the chorus. It feels sticky to me and it feels like something that I would want a crowd to sing."
Related: MTV VMAs 2023 Red Carpet: See All the Celebrity Dresses, Outfits, and Looks
GUTS, Rodrigo's sophomore album, came out Sept. 8 to critical acclaim for her evolution as a songwriter. Singles “vampire” and “bad idea right?” showed her duality as balladeer and rock 'n roller, and the rest of the album oscillates between those two modes, culminating in the exquisite “teenage dream.”
Watch Olivia Rodrigo's VMAs performance of “vampire” into “get him back” below:
