Olivia Rodrigo Releases First Remix with Chappell Roan and David Byrne

Olivia Rodrigo has released her first-ever remix, pairing with Chappell Roan on a new version of "Expectations" that features David Byrne as a fictional game-show host. The track and its video arrived with a fully formed retro conceit: the two singers compete on "The Big Expectations Show," a campy pastiche of Eighties television in the vein of Family Feud.

Byrne, the Talking Heads frontman, plays host Johnny Johnson. Producer Dan Nigro also appears in the video. "Oh, Olivia does remixes now," Roan says at the start of the clip, deadpan, before the competition begins.

The remix carries more than nostalgia. Roan adds a new verse, slightly rewriting the lyrics to reference a mediocre female suitor alongside Rodrigo's original lines. The song first appeared earlier this year on Rodrigo's third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, which followed 2021's Sour and 2024's Guts and became her third consecutive LP to debut at Number One.

What does the partnership change for both artists?

The collaboration formalizes a long creative relationship. Rodrigo and Roan both work with Nigro, and Roan opened for Rodrigo on the Sour Tour in 2022 and the Guts World Tour in 2024. The two performed Roan's "Hot to Go!" together onstage in Los Angeles. Roan recently headlined Rodrigo's inaugural Daisy Chain Fields Festival and appeared on Rolling Stone's digital cover marking the occasion.

Rodrigo framed the pairing in personal terms, recalling a moment in the studio that she says defines Roan's approach.

"I remember her walking into the studio one day and just flat-out saying 'I don't give a fuck about what people say anymore. If I like it, then it's good,'" Rodrigo said of Roan. "I could tell she actually meant it, too. That's her magic."

The festival behind the song

Daisy Chain, held August 29 at Great Park in Irvine, California, raised $10 million in donations benefiting women and girls. Philanthropist Melinda French Gates then doubled the total to $20 million.

Rodrigo described the ambition behind the event in language that echoes the album's emotional register.

"Music was the first medium where the way I felt was really accepted," Rodrigo said. "Growing up, that was my safe space. So if girls can come to Daisy Chain and feel a little sliver of that, that would be a dream."

Roan's next move

Roan has her own event this month. The Super Graphic Spectacular, a two-night fundraiser for trans youth and LGBTQ+ communities, runs October 21 and 22 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The lineup includes Roan, Lola Young, Caroline Polachek, Tinashe, Muna and more.

For Rodrigo, the remix marks a first experiment with the format after three chart-topping albums, and it arrives with two of pop's most bankable collaborators attached. Whether the "Expectations" remix becomes a one-off or the start of a remix habit, it extends a partnership that now spans tours, festivals and a shared producer.

By Marcus Bennett