Fans and fame: Teens flock to teen Billie Eilish for music, style, and message

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Cover image of the lyric video of Six Feet Under.

by Gillian Humphreys and Lily Caton

Billie Eilish has one studio-released album out and one EP. Billie released her first album on March 29, 2019 called When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? One of her number one hits, “Bad Guy,” was on this album along with 13 other songs. Billie’s EP was released August 11, 2017 called “Don’t Smile at Me” featuring 9 songs. “Don’t Smile at Me” was her first released EP that started her music career.

Many people love Billie, but many others are not fans. Remember that she’s only 18; she’s still a child.  Her music career has years of development ahead. Many people don’t like her for the simple fact that all her music sounds the same and that her music has a very depressing feel to it.

In my opinion, I love Billie’s music, but it can make me feel a bit depressed when I listen to it.

For example, the lyrics behind the song “Six Feet Under” are very dark such as, “Our love is six feet under. I can’t help but wonder, If our grave was watered by the rain, would roses bloom?”

The awards that Billie Eilish has won are Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, International Female Solo Artist, Best-selling album, and Best Song in the World. This is very impressive and an indication that her fans are on to something–there’s real talent behind the depressing songs.  Her Song of the Year was the one people noticed the most. Her song “Bad Guy” not only won Song of the Year but also got 39 million streams.

Bad guy is a very catchy and upbeat song with an intriguing music video which gives off a very eerie and creepy vibe.

There is so much attention on Billie Eilish: she has over 43 million fans at such a young age. As a style icon, teens like her grungy image.

Billie Eilish has a very unique look; she tends to wear more baggy and oversized outfits whenever she is out in public. Billie says she wears baggy clothes because she “doesn’t want to be sexualized by people, mainly grown men.” Billie isn’t like many other artists because she stands out and makes herself known and her audience, mostly ranging from 9-16, looks up to her for that.

 Many love her music and the way it sounds. Billie started to get famous in 2015 when she released the song “Ocean Eyes.” Many loved the song because it is very mellow and soft. This was her first song to get noticed by many people. “Ocean Eyes” was first released in 2016 on Soundcloud.

The biggest reason why people love Billie is because she treats her fans like family; when two of Billie’s fans died, she was absolutely devastated because they meant so much to her.

She’s very much different from the other popular artists now because she has more of an alternative pop feel to her music.

Billie’s brother, Finneas, mostly writes and produces all of her music. Billie does help write and produce her music. Finneas also sometimes performs live with her. Billie introduces Finneas at concerts as “my big brother and my best friend.” Finneas will also write songs and have Billie sing and perform them. Billie and Finneas have worked together since they were young. 

Billie is currently on the Where Do We Go Tour. She spent the majority of 2019 on the When We All Fall Asleep Tour and is now starting 2020 with a follow-up tour. She will be performing 53 shows in total: 23 in America, 8 in Latin America, 15 in Europe, and 7 in Asia.

Billie Eilish has a very large following. As of mid-February, Billie had 26.3 million subscribers on YouTube, 53.7 million followers on Instagram, 3.6 million followers on Twitter, 1.1 million followers on SoundCloud, and 58 million monthly listeners on Spotify. 

There was a new Billie Eilish song released on Thursday, February 13. The song is called “Time to Die” and is a new James Bond song. There are many strong and powerful lines in this song, but like almost every other Billie Eilish song, it has somewhat creepy and eerie background music and depressing lyrics. When compared to other James Bond songs, such as “The James Bond Theme” by The John Barry Orchestra and “All Time High” by Rita Coolidge, it’s a lot slower and not very peppy at all. 

With Billie’s newfound fame, her older fans feel as if her new fans don’t understand that she has been producing music for a while. The old fans feel like she is very overrated now because many new people are listening to her. Even though people all have different opinions on her, she does not deserve all the hate she is getting. People need to remember that she’s only 18 and that they should not be criticizing her when they don’t personally know her and know what’s going on in her personal life.