Biography

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell (/ˈaɪlɪʃ/; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter, model and dancer. Born and raised in Highland Park, Los Angeles, she began singing at a young age. She gained a following in 2016 when she released her single "Ocean Eyes" on audio distribution platform SoundCloud, subsequently released on the record labels Darkroom and Interscope Records.

Her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me (2017), reached the top 15 in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and spawned the single "Bellyache". Eilish also collaborated with American singer Khalid for the single "Lovely", which was released in April 2018 and added to the soundtrack for the second season of 13 Reasons Why. Her debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and reached number one in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. The album contained five US Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles: "When the Party's Over", "Bury a Friend", "Wish You Were Gay", "Xanny", and "Bad Guy", the latter of which became her first number-one single in the United States. She is the first and, to date, only artist born in the 2000s to record a #1 single in the United States.

Eilish has eight gold and four platinum singles in the United States. Eilish and her musician brother Finneas frequently collaborate on her music.

Early life

O'Connell was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 18, 2001, the daughter of Maggie Baird and Patrick O'Connell, both of whom are in the entertainment industry. She is of Irish and Scottish descent and was raised in Los Angeles' Highland Park. Eilish was homeschooled and joined the Los Angeles Children's Chorus at age eight. She began singing at a young age and began writing songs at age 11, taking after her elder brother Finneas O'Connell, who was already writing, performing, and producing his own songs with his band.

Career

2015–2017: Don't Smile at Me

In October 2015, Eilish recorded the song "Ocean Eyes", initially written by Finneas for his band, and sent it to her dance teacher, who helped choreograph a dance to it. "Ocean Eyes" was released as Eilish's debut single on SoundCloud in 2016. A music video was released in March 2016, and a video of Eilish performing a dance to the song was released in November 2016. The song was certified platinum by the RIAA and peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 2019. That year, Eilish also released the single "Six Feet Under". "Ocean Eyes" was re-released worldwide through Darkroom and Interscope Records on November 18, 2016. On January 14, 2017, Eilish released an EP with four remixes of "Ocean Eyes".

Following the success of the "Ocean Eyes" remixes, Eilish released the single "Bellyache" on February 24, 2017., with a video released in March 2017. Later that March, Eilish released the track "Bored" as part of the soundtrack to the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. In June 2017, Eilish released the single "Watch" with a follow-up single, "Copycat" released in July 2017, along with the announcement of her debut EP, Don't Smile at Me. Each Friday in July, Eilish would add another single to the EP. These singles included "Idontwannabeyouanymore" and "My Boy", both of which were certified gold by the RIAA. Don't Smile at Me was released in August 2017. After the release, Eilish collaborated with American rapper Vince Staples for a remix of "Watch" titled "&Burn", which was later included on a rerelease of the EP. Following the EP's commercial success, Apple Music named Eilish an Up Next artist in September 2017.

2018–present: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

In February 2018, Eilish embarked on the Where's My Mind Tour, which concluded in April 2018. For Record Store Day 2018, Eilish released a 7" vinyl featuring an acoustic version of her song "Party Favor" and an acoustic cover of Drake's "Hotline Bling". Eilish collaborated with American singer Khalid for the single "Lovely", which was released in April 2018 and added to the soundtrack for the second season of 13 Reasons Why. She also released the singles "Bitches Broken Hearts" and "You Should See Me in a Crown", In July 2018, Eilish performed at the Mo Pop Festival. In October 2018, Eilish released the single "When the Party's Over", and signed a modeling contract with Next Models. She was placed on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in November of that year, and released the single "Come Out and Play", written for a holiday-themed Apple commercial.

In January 2019, Eilish released "Bury a Friend" as the third single from her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, along with "When I Was Older", a single inspired by the 2018 film Roma, which appeared on the compilation album Music Inspired by the Film Roma. "Bury a Friend" peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her fourth single from the album, "Wish You Were Gay", was released in March 2019, and debuted and peaked at number 31 in the US and was certified platinum by the RIAA.

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was released on March 29, 2019. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 as well as on the UK Albums Chart, making Eilish the first artist born in the 2000s to have a number one album in the United States, and the youngest female ever to have a number one album in the United Kingdom. Upon the album's debut, Eilish broke the record for most simultaneously charting Hot 100 songs by a female artist, with 14, after every song from the album, excluding "Goodbye", charted on the Hot 100. The fifth single from the album, "Bad Guy", was released in conjunction with the album, and peaked at number one in the US, ending Lil Nas X's record-breaking 19 weeks at number one with "Old Town Road". She is the first artist born in the 2000s and the youngest artist since Lorde (with "Royals") to have a number-one single. A remix of the song featuring Justin Bieber was released in July 2019.

She began her When We All Fall Asleep Tour at Coachella Festival in April 2019. The tour is scheduled to run until November 2019.

Artistry

Musical style and songwriting

Avery Stone of Noisey described Eilish's soprano vocals as "ethereal", and Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone characterized them as "whispery". Doreen St. Félix of The New Yorker opined that she has a "husky, slurring voice that she can thin out to reedy". Her music incorporates pop music, alternative and electropop

Eilish and her brother Finneas collaborate on songwriting. Eilish called Finneas her partner in making music and said he produces her music and also performs with her on live shows. Eilish and Finneas "like to completely make up things and become characters" and "have songs that are really fictional". Eilish said a number of the songs also derive from her and Finneas' experiences. They try to write "really interesting and conversational" lyrics: "We try to say stuff that doesn't have to be that deep but you say something way deeper in a certain way that makes sense, but you haven't really thought about." Finneas has stated when he writes songs for his sister, he aims to "write that I think she'll relate to and enjoy singing and empathise with the lyrics and make her own". When he writes with Eilish, he tries "to help her tell whatever story she's trying to tell, bounce ideas off of her, listen to her ideas", and use a language that fits her voice telling the story.

Influences

Eilish grew up listening to The Beatles, Green Day, Avril Lavigne, and Justin Bieber. Hip hop music is Eilish's favorite genre and biggest inspiration. She has cited Tyler, the Creator and Childish Gambino as major musical and style influences for her, and other influences include Earl Sweatshirt, Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey. She has been compared in the media to both Lorde and Del Rey, the latter of whom she says she does not want to be compared to, saying in a Los Angeles Times interview, "That woman has made her brand so perfect for her whole career and she shouldn't have to hear that." She has named Rihanna as an inspiration for her style choices, after she called fashion her "defense mechanism" during an acceptance speech.

Public image

Much of the media attention surrounding Eilish has revolved around her fashion style, which consists primarily of baggy, ill-fitting clothing. In 2017, Eilish stated that she likes dressing out of her comfort zone to feel like she grabs the attention of everyone around her. Eilish tries to be "really different from a lot of people", and wears clothing opposite to what others are wearing. Aiming to "look memorable", Eilish said she believes she "proved to people that I'm more important than they think", and she is "kind of intimidating, so people will listen up." In 2019, Eilish appeared in a Calvin Klein ad, wherein she mentioned that she dresses in baggy clothes in order to prevent people from body shaming her.

Products and endorsements

In April 2019, Eilish released clothing in collaboration with Takashi Murakami, inspired by her music video for "You Should See Me in a Crown", also directed and animated by Murakami, as well as a limited edition vinyl figure of herself from the video. Eilish also collaborated with Adobe Creative Cloud the same month for a series of advertisements as well as a social media art contest, where users would submit artwork with the hashtag "#BILLIExADOBE". Eilish appeared in the debut of Calvin Klein's "I Speak My Truth In #MyCalvins" ad campaign in May 2019, as well as the Ad Council's "Seize the Awkward" campaign, a series of PSAs targeting mental health awareness. She fronted MCM Worldwide's fall 2019 advertising campaign in July 2019, and later that month, collaborated with Los Angeles-based clothing brand Freak City for a clothing line. Also in July 2019, she performed at a dinner hosted by Chanel on Shelter Island to celebrate the brand's pop-up yacht club.

In August 2019, Billie Eilish partnered with Apple to allow Apple Store customers to experiment with her song "You Should See Me in a Crown" in Music Lab sessions in its stores. Eilish's collaboration with the clothing company Siberia Hills was met with controversy after it was revealed that the company had used plagiarized designs of fan art of the character Nozomi Tojo from Love Live!, drawn by artist Makoto Kurokawa, for Eilish's clothing line. The brand later clarified that Eilish herself had no knowledge of the plagiarism.

Personal life

In an interview published by The Guardian in March 2019, Eilish stated she has never used drugs or smoked. Eilish stated that she has Tourette syndrome, synesthesia, and has experienced depression. She was raised vegetarian and regularly advocates for veganism on social media.

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