Avril Lavigne thanks Olivia Rodrigo for the "return of rock'n'roll" to the charts

Avril Lavigne has credited Olivia Rodrigo with helping to bring a rock'n'roll revival back to the charts with her debut album, Sour. 

The pop-punk icon presented Olivia with the Songwriter of the Year award at this year's Variety Hitmakers Brunch in LA. 

"This year we were introduced to a new artist whose debut album marked a major return for rock ‘n’ roll in the charts," Avril said in her dedication.

"From Driver’s License to Good 4 You’ to ‘Deja Vu, Olivia’s singles from her album ‘Sour’ are part of the collective psyche of 2021, and she wrote every single one of them."

MORE: Olivia Rodrigo's Official Charts history in full

Accepting the award, Olivia - who has openly credited her musical influences to include Avril, as well as other female singer-songwriters like Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers and Gracie Abrams - said she was a "huge fan" of Avril's, who recently returned to the rock music scene with her comeback single Bite Me. 

But it's not only Avril who is inspiring the new generation of female singer-songwriter. Acts from the early 00s scene like Michelle Branch and Hayley Williams of Paramore (who, along with Taylor Swift, earned retrospective writing credits for interpolations used on some of Sour's tracks) have served as inspiration for some of this year's most exciting new acts - from Baby Queen, to Holly Humberstone and Eurovision winners Måneskin. 

For what it's worth, there is real evidence of Olivia's rise to fame also paralleling the return of rock music as a commercial force on the Official Charts once more. Good 4 U - Olivia's second Number 1 single from Sour - has been the longest-running rock song at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart since Evanescence's Bring Me To Life in 2003. 

Good 4 U topped the Official Singles Chart for five weeks, and was recently named the best-selling single of the year so far in the UK, with Drivers License not far behind in second place.