Do you know about this guy Role Model? It's fine if you don't. You're not really missing anything. Role Model, also known as Maine native Tucker Pillsbury, is one of these alt-pop pinup guys. He was on Saturday Night Live last year, and he had Charli XCX out dancing onstage with him. He gets booked at a lot of festivals even though he's not very good at playing live. And he's here to tell you that he just bricked his attempt at an Olivia Rodrigo cover.
On Friday, Role Model released a new album called Chuck Timely & The Hourglass. As part of the promotional rounds, he stopped by the BBC Live Lounge and attempted a cover of "maggots for brains," one of the highlights from Olivia Rodrigo's excellent new LP you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. He shanked it pretty badly, wheezing out a quiet and bland folk-pop version of a song that really demands a little more vigor than that. Look, "maggots for brains" isn't some religious text, and you don't have to try to sing it exactly like Rodrigo does. But if you're going to take on the most consistently entertaining A-list pop star in the game right now, you should put a little spirit into it.
Role Model knows he fucked it up. The BBC posted his Rodrigo cover yesterday. On his Instagram story, Role Model wrote, "i covered olivia for BBC and im just gonna get ahead of the comments and let you know i botched it." That doesn't make it better!
After that, Role Model should have to change his name.
@rollingstone Due to reactions on social media, @tucker says he’d consider a name change: “What bothers me the most is whenever my name comes up on Twitter, every comment is like, ‘What parents name their kid Role Model?’ Does Post Malone go through that? Or does Lil Wayne? Like, just use your brain.” #rolemodel #chucktimely #rolemodeledit #postmalone #lilwayne
♬ original sound - Rolling Stone
