Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drop Dead’ Claims No. 1 Debut on Billboard Hot 100 With Multi-Version Strategy

Olivia Rodrigo's track "Drop Dead" landed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this Monday. She released almost 10 different versions on April 17.

This is the third time a lead single from one of her albums has grabbed the top spot right away. No other artist has done this before, Billboard reports.

"That makes even more of a statement," said David Metzer, a music history professor at the University of British Columbia, to CBC Kids News. "That means it's the hottest song at the moment and there's a lot of publicity that goes along with it."

She released the song in many formats — single, album, music video, lyric video, and "singalong audio" — just to name a few. Other options? "Singalong video,"  "limited cover," "go real slow," and "most alive I've ever been."

Fans can grab physical copies, too. CD, cassette, and 7-inch vinyl all had one song on them.

Metzer explained that this tactic helps push her upcoming album, which drops June 12. Releasing different variants has become a go-to method for musicians who want to climb the charts.

Other artists do the same thing to get more streams and sales. Each version gets counted separately when the charts are calculated, which drives up the total units sold.

Rodrigo announced "Drop Dead" as her lead single on April 7. Pre-orders for merch tied to the song went live, too. You can order her album or merch on her official website.