Call it wishful thinking, but something tells us that Olivia Rodrigo’s third album is on its way.
It’s been more than two years since the singer last blessed us with new material, courtesy of her second album, Guts. But now that she’s officially finished with tour, it seems we’re finally getting teaser after teaser about a forthcoming third studio album, and her fans (Livies, as they’re affectionately known) are convinced it could be just around the corner. Breaking down the rumours, below.
Olivia has posted from the studio
In the latest update to this very exciting saga, Rodrigo herself has shared an image that shows what looks to be the recording studio. Leading her most recent Instagram dump is a selfie of Rodrigo wearing headphones and posing next to a microphone. Naturally, one of the most-liked comments beneath the dump reads, “OR3 IS CLOSER THAN WE THINK.” We can’t help but agree.
When is it being released?
Without any confirmation from the singer herself that a third album is en route, all we can do is speculate about a release date. We do know, however, that Rodrigo waited around two years between the release of Sour and Guts. Following this formula, a third album would be a little overdue (Guts was released in September 2023).
At this stage, it seems unlikely she’ll drop anything before Christmas this year, so we’re thinking we might get some teasers and first singles in the early part of 2026.
In an interview after her recent American Express Performance, Rodrigo did tease – “I won’t say too much, but I think 2026 is going to be a busy year for me”. If she wants to be submitted for the next Grammy Awards in 2027, she’ll have to have released the project in full before 31 August 2026.
What’s the album title?
The most recent news we have is direct from Rodrigo, who said in an October 2025 interview with Harper’s Bazaar that she still has not landed on one for OR3: “I had the title of Guts and Sour at the beginning of the album-making process, but for this album, I’m kind of still finding it right now.”
She continued: “I have a few options that are twirling around in my brain. I have one that I’m feeling good about, and I think that’ll be the title, but I am not 100 per cent positive yet. I’m not writing it in stone quite yet. It has to feel right in your body. I have to sleep on it a few nights before I really decide that that’s the one.”
Rodrigo did confirm, however, on the Today show that the album would indeed follow the same pattern and feature a “four-letter word”.
Fans, on the other hand, have their own theories. The most dominant amongst Livies is that Rodrigo’s third album will be called Luck. She’s known to favour the ladybug emoji and was most recently performing in a custom Miu Miu look covered in bejewelled four-leaf clovers…
Have there been other teasers?
Like any true Tay-daughter, Rodrigo has followed in Swift’s footsteps with the Easter-egg drops throughout her most recent festival headlining tour. We think it’s very likely that Rodrigo was teasing lyrics from an upcoming third – and still unannounced – album, using the most unexpected medium: her concert encore T-shirts.
Across the European leg of her Guts tour the singer emerged onstage in a rotating lineup of homemade graphic tees, each emblazoned with cryptic phrases. One particularly meta moment came in Manchester, where Rodrigo wore a tee that read, “Did you get that hint?” – practically daring fans to crack the code. You can read our full breakdown of every lyric-teasing encore shirt Rodrigo wore to make up your own mind…
What will OR3 be about?
In June of this year, Rodrigo said in an interview that the album would feel more mature: “Hopefully by the time I put out my next album, it’ll feel more mature and like a different take on things. I think that’s what’s so fun about writing songs, is you get to keep pushing yourself and learning and growing and expanding.”
Will OR3 have a new signature colour?
For Sour and Guts, Rodrigo made purple her signature hue, but could she about to make the switch to red? The singer appears to have been favouring the fiery shade on Instagram and on stage, opting for a lot more red in her tour wardrobe. Most recently, Rodrigo did a video where she delved into the items in her bag, and nearly everything was in the colour red, from her favourite hat to her on-the-go notebook.
And when Guts Deluxe was released, fans were quick to notice a lot of red peppered throughout the album artwork. It all culminated at Lollapollooza earlier this year in Chile, when Rodrigo practically broke the internet in a cherry red custom bodysuit by Ludovic de Saint Sernin.
As one fan described on Reddit, a change in colour could also signify a new sound for the singer — perhaps something a little more punk rock than we’ve previously heard?
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Feature image: one, two, three.
