In an era dominated by singles, viral clips, and tour livestreams, Olivia Rodrigo is taking an unexpected turn. The pop star announced last week that her next release will not be a new studio record but a live album, Live at Glastonbury (A BBC Recording), arriving in December. The set will capture her entire performance from this summer’s festival, including two surprise covers with Cure frontman Robert Smith.
The announcement was surprising not only for Rodrigo’s fans but for the music industry as a whole. The live album, once a rite of passage for artists in nearly every genre, has become a near relic in the digital age. Few major pop or rock acts have chosen to put out full-length concert recordings in recent years. Rodrigo, however, appears ready to test whether the format can still hold cultural weight in 2025.
The concert album was once considered essential listening. From the 1960s through the 1980s, millions of music fans kept records like the Rolling Stones’ Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out! or The Who’s Live at Leeds in constant rotation. Soul audiences swore by James Brown’s Live at the Apollo, Otis Redding’s In Person at the Whisky a Go Go, and Aretha Franklin’s gospel classic Amazing Grace. For metal fans, Deep Purple’s Made in Japan and Metallica’s Live Shit: Binge & Purge became benchmarks of intensity.
The appeal stretched across genres: Southern rock staples such as the Allman Brothers’ At Fillmore East or Lynyrd Skynyrd’s One More from the Road were considered must-owns, while Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged became a generational touchstone. For many artists, live albums marked their breakthrough moment. Cheap Trick’s At Budokan, Kiss’ Alive!, Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!, and Bob Seger’s Live Bullet all propelled their creators from middling success to superstardom.
But in recent decades, the format’s relevance has waned. Fans no longer need to wait months for an official release when entire concerts appear on YouTube hours after they happen. Streaming platforms, bootleg-sharing communities, and instant uploads have made the polished “official” live record feel redundant. Even Taylor Swift, who has documented nearly every aspect of her Eras Tour in real time, stopped short of releasing a traditional concert album.
Rodrigo’s decision arrives at a moment when only a handful of contemporary artists have experimented with the format. Billie Eilish issued a stripped-down Live at Third Man Records in 2019, though only as a limited-edition vinyl release. Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, and Florence + the Machine have each tested the waters with live recordings, but none reached the impact of the genre’s golden-era titles.
Still, Rodrigo’s Glastonbury release may represent something different. As one of pop’s biggest young stars, she occupies the same festival-headlining tier that classic rock acts once held. Her shows, particularly on last year’s Guts tour, demonstrated how her songs evolve in real time: tracks like “All-American Bitch” gained a sharper edge on stage, propelled by the energy of her live band. A full audio record could preserve that rawness in a way her studio albums never intended.
Skeptics argue that modern audiences may not embrace the idea. Some fans distrust the authenticity of live albums, suspecting overdubs or pre-recorded elements. Others may prefer to stream videos of the actual concert instead of listening to an audio-only record. The very imperfections that once gave live albums their charm such as off-key vocals, looser arrangements, chaotic crowd noise, could be at odds with the polish expected of pop stars today.
But there are reasons to think Rodrigo’s gamble might pay off. Glastonbury is one of the most storied stages in music, and a full document of her set there carries a symbolic weight. Including a collaboration with Robert Smith, an icon of alternative rock, also adds credibility and cross-generational appeal. By choosing to highlight spontaneity, Rodrigo could help reinvigorate the live album as a meaningful artistic statement rather than a contractual afterthought.
In the 20th century, live albums often bridged long gaps between studio releases or cemented a band’s reputation at its peak. With her Glastonbury recording, Rodrigo signals that the format can still matter, even in a culture of on-demand video and short-form content.
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