Billie Eilish: the edgy pop radical rewriting stardom’s rules
Published: 07:01 PM,Jan 29,2020 | EDITED : 11:04 AM,Apr 29,2024
‘Confused and grateful’ - The superstar’s signature style features oversized sweatshirts and baggy pants, often paired with sunglasses and the garish extra-long nail extensions more often associated with rapper Cardi B. On Grammy night, she wore an oversized Gucci pantsuit with glittering lime green accents -- that matched her neon-dyed roots -- and even sported a sheer black face mask on the red carpet. The star has described her body image as “toxic,” and spoken openly about mental health struggles -- a growing movement in the music industry, which has lost scores of stars young and old to suicide and overdose. “Wow, wow, wow, wow,” Eilish began her speech in accepting the award for “Bad Guy.” “So many other songs deserved this, I’m sorry.” Her 22-year-old brother later said, “We didn’t think this would ever win anything.” “We didn’t write an album to win awards. We wrote an album about depression, about suicidal thoughts, about climate change,” he continued. “We stand up here confused and grateful.”
Win-win for women - The young Eilish has flatly dismissed the industry’s habit of drumming up publicity and drama by pitting female stars against each other. She champions women as peers rather than rivals, emphasizing that the success of one performer does not steal from another. “Everybody’s always trying to make everybody compete,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2019. “They’re like, ‘Billie’s album might pass Ariana’s.’” On Sunday, Eilish gave a shout-out to Grande, saying the pop royal’s album “thank u, next” should have won the night’s prestigious Album of the Year award. She’s also lauded fellow Album of the Year nominee Lana Del Rey, a masterful lyricist who, like Grande, went home empty-handed on Sunday. “I don’t want to hear that Billie Eilish is the new Lana Del Rey. Do not disrespect Lana like that! That woman has made her brand so perfect for her whole career and shouldn’t have to hear that,” Eilish once said of the baroque pop troubadour whose languorous, deadpan 2019 album was hailed by many as the year’s best. “I don’t want to hear that somebody’s the new Billie Eilish in a couple of years.” That prospect appears unlikely considering the superstar’s inimitable idiosyncrasies, raw talent and meteoric rise that now includes plenty of Grammys gold. “What’s next? I don’t know -- be in this moment is all I’m thinking about,” she told reporters Sunday backstage. As the now classic lyric from “Bad Guy” goes.... duh. — AFP