Billie Eilish is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single "Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom she collaborates on music and live shows.

Early Life and Family

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 18, 2001. Her first name is in honor of her maternal grandfather, William; the second was inspired by a conjoined twin her parents saw in a documentary; and the third came from the insistence of her older brother, Finneas. Billie’s parents, Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell, were longtime actors before joining their teenage daughter’s professional team. Raised in a two-bedroom house in Highland Park, where she and her brother were homeschooled, Eilish was encouraged to pursue her interests in dance, gymnastics, horseback riding, and especially music. She started playing ukulele at the age of 6. The first song she learned to play was “I Will” by The Beatles. Two years later, when she was 8 years old, Eilish joined the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, where she learned to hone her vocal talent. By age 11, she began writing songs in earnest with the help of her mother's songwriting class. Eilish has said her first “real” song, “Fingers Crossed,” was penned around that time after watching an episode of The Walking Dead. Despite her musical talent, Eilish initially wanted to be a dancer, but after a growth plate injury in her hip ended her dance ambitions at the age of 13, she decided to fully embrace music.

Film work and Academy Awards

Also in 2021, Eilish wrote (with FINNEAS) and performed “No Time to Die” for the James Bond film of the same name; it received the Oscar for best original song. In 2022, she collaborated with FINNEAS and composer Ludwig Göransson on the soundtrack for the Disney/Pixar animated film Turning Red, for which Eilish and her brother wrote three original songs. (In the film, the songs were performed by a fictional boy band called 4*TOWN.) The following year she collaborated with rapper and singer-songwriter Labrinth on the haunting ballad “Never Felt So Alone.” She also contributed the ethereal “What Was I Made For?” to the soundtrack of the blockbuster movie Barbie. Cowritten with FINNEAS and featuring a wistful video showing Eilish dressed as her younger self and playing with doll sets, the ballad won the Grammy for song of the year as well as an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best original song.

Trivia

She won three MTV Video Music Awards in 2019, including Best New Artist. Her single "Bad Guy" became her first #1 hit in the U.S. She has followed a vegan diet since she was 12 years old. She has a dog named Shark.