Olivia Rodrigo’s New Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival Was ‘Directly Inspired’ by Sarah McLachlan and Lilith Fair

Olivia Rodrigo's new Daisy Chain Fields festival takes place on August 29 in Irvine, California, and it has a Canadian inspiration: Sarah McLachlan and Lilith Fair.

Rodrigo revealed to Pitchfork that she was “directly inspired” by the late ‘90s all-female-fronted music festival, Lilith Fair, co-founded by Canadian icon Sarah McLachlan.

McLachlan created Lilith Fair in response to music industry executives who claimed that tours wouldn’t sell if they featured more than one woman. Kicking off in 1997, Lilith Fair ran for three consecutive summers until 1999, with a revival tour in 2010 — it helped give major spotlights to stars like The Chicks, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Tracy Chapman, Tegan and Sara, Missy Elliott and Nelly Furtado.

Speaking about the festival years later, McLachlan “realized early there’s strength in numbers,” and having so many notable female artists on a lineup was a statement. Nearly two decades later, Rodrigo wants to capture that same sentiment.

Last year, Rodrigo was a part of Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery – The Untold Story, an Ally Pankiw-directed documentary about McLachlan’s legendary festival. Although she was born six years after the first Lilith outing, she’s among the new generation of artists who are carrying on the torch of its impact.

“Finding out that all my favourite artists had played at this event I was in disbelief that I’d never heard of it before,” Rodrigo said in the documentary. “Women singer-songwriters of the ’90s, I’m constantly looking to them for inspiration. They’re my northern stars.”

McLachlan is listed as a “special guest” at Daisy Chain Fields, alongside Stevie Nicks and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O.

Going into greater detail about the festival on this morning’s edition of Good Morning America, Rodrigo explained that she turned to McLachlan for guidance when she started building out the festival.

“The first person that I called when I decided that I wanted to do this festival was Sarah McLachlan,” Rodrigo said to news anchor Diane Sawyer. “She’s a total trailblazer and an incredible artist and friend.”

The festival’s inaugural lineup includes some of today’s biggest artists like Chappell Roan, Doechii, KATSEYE and Mitski, among others.

“I feel really connected to the young girls that come to my concerts, and the fact that I get to be in the fabric of their lives is a real, true honour that I don’t take lightly,” Rodrigo told Pitchfork.

Net profits from all ticket sales goes to various charities and non-profit organizations, including the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, Planned Parenthood and the National Women’s Law Center.

“I just feel like we need something really positive to do and see, and young girls need awesome role models who are supporting other women and who are engaging in something that’s really joyful and musical and community-oriented,” Rodrigo said.

“I actually feel like it’s my calling in some weird way. “I…have had this dream to do this festival for a really long time.”