Starting out
With a name like Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell she was destined for fame but no one could ever imagine she would blow up quite the way she did. Born on December 18th 2001 in California to Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell, her mother was predominantly an actress and her father a musician. Though they weren’t financially wealthy having been greatly affected by the recession, their family life was rich in adventure. Growing up Eilish and her brother Finneas were home schooled as their parents wanted them to be able to concentrate on their passions and innate talents while gaining an education.
Music was always a huge part of Eilish’s life, she described growing up with her family as being “one big song” so her passion for music comes as no surprise. Her mother taught her and her brother the basics of songwriting and composure and there were always instruments around the house that they were able to play on at their free will. Eilish wrote her first song aged 11 about a zombie apocalypse, she drew her inspiration from The Walking Dead using lines from the script as well as incorporating episode titles.
Don’t Smile At Me
In 2015 at just 13, Eilish and Finneas started putting out songs onto SoundCloud for a bit of fun. The first two they ever released were called She’s Broken, written by Finneas and Fingers Crossed written by Eilish. It wasn’t until November 18 2015 when they released Ocean Eyes that things started to change. The song was written, produced and mixed by Finneas and sung by Eilish. It didn’t take long for the song to blow up. Within two weeks the song had hundreds of thousands of listens.
It was at this point Finneas’s manager saw her talent and signed her to A&R’s company, Platoon. A small label that takes on emerging talent before they get signed to a major record label. By March 2016 Eilish had a publicist and a stylist and was working with Chanel, big moves at just 14! The music video for Ocean Eyes was released on March 26th 2016 and gained mass recognition.
Eilish’s second single Six Feet Under was again released on her SoundCloud in June 2016 along with a home-made music video that Eilish directed and her mother edited. Not even a month later Justin Lubliner had signed Eilish to Darkroom and Interscope Records. They ensured that while she was being introduced as an artist there would be a firm focus on creating a “persona and distinct aesthetic”. This is something they have kept to throughout her career and part of the reasons she is an idol to so many.
2017 was the year it really all took off for Eilish, the release of numerous singles including Bellyache, Bored and idontwannabeyouanymore all of which took off. In August of that year she released the complete EP Don’t Smile at Me which reached #14 on the Billboard 200 overnight. Eilish took the EP on tour around the US throughout October 2017.
By 2018 she was on her second headlining tour, Where’s My Mind Tour. This tour was an extension of the first with Bitches Broken Hearts being re-released globally in March 2018. Throughout the year she released Lovely in collaboration with singer Khalid that was then used as the soundtrack for Netflix hit 13 Reasons Why as well as her single When the Party’s Over. In November she secured herself a place on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list having not even released an official album.
2019 kicked off with Don’t Smile At Me reaching 1 billion streams on Spotify which made Eilish the youngest person in history to have reached 1 billion streams. Her full album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was released on March 29th 2019 and was an instant success. The history books were about to be rewritten. Eilish was the first artist born in the 2000s to have reached the number one spot in the US and the first female ever to have her album at number one in the UK. The album was breaking records left right and centre and although it all looked flashy and wonderful on the outside behind closed doors it was something of a different story.
The album won her and Finneas collectively six Grammy Awards at the 2020 ceremony but when accepting the awards for Album of the Year they stated “we wrote an album about depression and suicidal thoughts and climate change and being a bad guy, whatever that means. And we stand up here confused and grateful.”
The Real Billie
Stardom at 15 to some may seem like a dream come true. When we look through magazines and read articles online, we see all the good that comes with it. The parties, the fashion, the travel opportunities but what we don’t see is the hardship and the pain that it can bring to people. Eilish is no stranger to receiving hate but it’s something she fears having struggled with anxiety and depression for so many years even saying she didn’t think she would make it to 19.
When she first came onto the scene and was releasing music that spoke openly about such issues people were shocked, but she feels she almost owes it to people. In her documentary she stated, “the least I can do is make the art that I make because I have the same problems”. She showed her diary from when she was around 14 admitting they were extremely dark times and the things she wrote in her notebook and on her wall were an outlet of the pain she was feeling.
Part of her iconic image is how she unashamedly wears baggy clothes, something that in the past wouldn’t cut it in the industry. Celebrity women are predominantly expected to wear tight fitting, feminine and often sexualised clothes and a lot of their societal acceptance comes from how they dress, their weight and their overall appearance. Eilish has started to break these stereotypes.
In her most recent Vogue cover shoot she’s seen wearing corsets and heels, a look completely out of her comfort zone. She did admit in the interview though she enjoyed looking into the intricacy and details of the corsets, “if I’m honest with you, I hate my stomach, and that’s why”. It was a brave move standing up against the beauty standards of society today and then coming out with a cover on the biggest fashion magazine in the world wearing a corset but as she said herself, “don’t make me a role model because you’re turned on by me”.
“We made this album in a bedroom in a house we grew up in and it was mastered in somebody’s living room so it really is like anything is possible”. This was part of her press speech at the 2020 Grammy Awards. There’s no doubt in my mind she can be held on a pedestal for young people today as a way of proving dreams do come true if you work hard. With success comes scrutiny and to be so opposed to societal standards at such a young age is inspiration enough. What we can learn from Eilish is not to conform to the norm, to be yourself and be sure in yourself no matter what internal battle you may be fighting.
Making it in the music industry is an uphill battle as it is, even without the adversity that life throws at us. Two women with similar life paths to Billie are Rihanna and Lady Gaga, and you can read the articles we produced on them here:
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