The last seven days of Billie Eilish’s young life have been nothing short of extraordinary. On Monday, the 18-year-old US pop singer-songwriter took home five Grammy Awards from six nominations, including a clean sweep of the four major categories: album of the year, song of the year, record of the year and best new artist. She became only the second artist to manage that feat, following singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, who won the same four Grammys in 1981; her debut — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — also won best pop vocal album.
As well, her song Bad Guy topped the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2019 here in Australia last weekend, which made her the first female solo artist to claim the top spot. Five of her songs made the countdown, while according to Triple J, 64 per cent of those who voted for the top song were female and nearly a third of Bad Guy voters were aged between 18 and 24. Given that the membership of the Recording Academy – the body that votes on nominees and winners for the annual Grammy Awards – tends to skew older and male, despite attempts in recent years to bring in more women and people of colour, the song’s major success in both arenas might mark the first time the musical tastes of Triple J listeners and Grammy voters have aligned so neatly.
Eilish is no overnight success: she is the homeschooled child of two Los Angeles actors, who up until recently shared their two-bedroom, one-bathroom home with their daughter and son, 22 year-old Finneas O’Connell, also Billie’s producer, co-writer and live performing partner. The siblings’ close working relationship in the past five or so years came not just from their proximity as bedroom recording artists, but from a clear sense of love and trust that’s evident in a recent Rolling Stone video that breaks down the making of Bad Guy. As they gleefully detail in that interview, the song contains a sample of a Sydney pedestrian crossing sound Billie recorded on a visit in February 2018, and which Finneas chopped up and quantised using his audio editing software.
A New York Times profile published early last year described Billie Eilish as “an artist-as-creative director, building her own layered universe for fans to obsess over through a unified flow of music, videos, social media and staging”. The last week of outstanding achievements has shown that her millions of fans have been right all along: what she and her brother have spent the past few years developing in their respective bedrooms is remarkable, and their unique sound is now being chased and emulated by many other artists across the world. Where they go from here will be fascinating to see and hear.
mcmillena@theaustralian.com.au
PLAYLIST: TONES AND 1
01. 17 Again Adrian Eagle
This song was written about Adrian’s struggle to overcome obesity as a youth and how he started loving himself.
02. Ten Thousand Hours Macklemore
This song helps me realise it’s hard work that builds someone up, not genetics, wealth or where you come from.
03. Miracle Love Matt Corby
This was the first time I listened to a song and bawled my eyes out at a festival — and I’m not a crier. You can’t help but feel it.
04. Find An Island Benee
Benee is a NZ artist who I think resembles a low Lorde voice, but has really reggae beats. She’s an incredible songwriter.
05. Magnolia Gang of Youths
An iconic song with a gut-wrenching backstory. It will go down in history, and I couldn’t not put it on this list.
Join the conversation
Ancient Egypt a Western obsession
The third significant Australian exhibition of art from the time of the pharaohs this year boasts great works from the British Museum.
Read more
The epic race to connect Australia to the rest of the world
This is the story of Australia’s Overland Telegraph and the man who built them, an English grocer’s son named Charles Todd.
Read more