The debut single from the 17-year-old Disney actress Olivia Rodrigo became a massive hit of 2021, a TikTok smash, has broken Spotify records and topped the Billboard chart, all thanks to an abundant marketing, gossips, and promotions.

Since the beginning of 2021, we’ve been seeing “drivers license” all over the social media as listeners’ favorite song of the year by far. If you are one of the few people who have not been repeatedly listening and going ‘emo’  to Olivia Rodrigo’s new single, while driving around random suburban towns, you may have no idea who this 17-year-old artist is — who took us by a storm with her debut single, or why the song just broke a Spotify streaming record.

On January 15, the music streaming service Spotify wrote to Twitter that the song had the record for most streams of any song in a week on the platform. From Jan. 8 to Jan. 14, the song was streamed 65,873,080 times, according to Spotify’s global weekly Top 200 chart, earning it the number 1 spot, which belonged to Ariana Grande's "7 Rings.” The song currently remains at the top, with more than 11 million streams so far this week.

And to be very honest, the song is really great and will make you want to listen a couple of times (it’s already on my playlist). I myself even have been contributing to those record-breaking streaming numbers — listening to it on repeat non-stop since the first time I heard it. Even if you aren’t a teenager who just went into a heartbreak, the song ingeniously captures feelings of nostalgia and awful yearning towards your moribund love for someone who caused you pain, and it’s difficult not to have the song on the loop.

In fact, a Music Therapist explained in an article written by Bustle on why we can’t stop listening to the song.

"The message of the lyrics and the impact of the music itself (melody and harmony of the chords) are powerful, but in combination they are incredibly compelling," Sandi Curtis said. "Together, they evoke a strong response from us that is emotional, physical, and psychological all at the same time."

Curtis also said that as we listen to the song, we automatically relate our own stories, making the music sound more heartbreaking and sad.

"We hear our stories in the songs of others… We project onto those songs our own experiences and emotions,” said Curtis

"Listening to sad songs allows us to process our emotions and our experiences," Curtis says. "It allows us to be in the present, be mindful of our emotions, and deal with them, rather than stuffing them down,” she added.

As “drivers license” earned reputation this year, the song already earned multiple achievements — as it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on Tuesday this week, following a record-breaking first week across streaming services like Spotify and Amazon Music.

Also, according to Billboard, the track already reached No. 1 in 48 countries on Apple Music, 31 countries on Spotify and 14 countries on YouTube, Rodrigo’s label said. It also sold 38,000 downloads in the United States, the most for the week, and earned 8.1 million radio airplay audience impressions.

Olivia Rodrigo is a singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her role in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. While their relationship never went on public, the 17 year-old singer briefly dated her co-star and on-screen love-team Joshua Bassett, whom the song is rumored to be about.

Listen to drivers license here: