Billie Eilish has spoken about how happy she is for this year’s three big breakout stars: Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter.
In a joint interview with her brother Finneas with the LA Times, Eilish was asked whether she “felt threatened” by the trio’s huge success this year. The singer was unequivocal.
“Are you kidding me?” she said. “I’m so happy for these bitches. It’s a crazy world when you get to the level they’re experiencing right now, and they’re doing great. Fans are drawn to them because they’re f***ing awesome.”
Of course, we already know that there’s no rivalry going on with at least two of the three. Earlier this year she mentioned that Roan’s Good Luck Babe was her favourite song of the year, and she has already collaborated with Charli XCX on the summer hit summer hit Guess.
Elsewhere in the interview, Eilish mused on the topic of stardom and how a few years ago, when a TSA official asked her for a selfie she knew everything had changed: “I thought, this is just how my life is gonna be.”
“I’ll never get to go outside again, and I’ll never feel like a person ever again. Every room is gonna be, ‘It’s Billie Eilish!’ and that’s gonna make me eventually kill myself.”
Roan has said similar things about the shock of sudden fame this year, comparing it to “an abusive ex-husband” and revealing that’s she’s been diagnosed with depression as a result of her rapid rise.
Even before that Roan had talked on social media about “weird and creepy” followers, and called out the “predatory behaviour” of some so-called ‘superfans’, which includes “non-consensual physical and social interactions”.
Many female artists have offered support, including Carpenter and Miley Cyrus. And asked by the interviewer if she’d heard Roan’s comments, Eilish nodded sagely, saying: “It’s hard out here, man, it’s hard.”
Elsewhere in the interview the singer also insisted that she doesn’t want to talk about her sexuality “ever ever ever” again after Variety magazine seemed to out her in a 2023. “I also underestimate that things I say will be blown up into the biggest news of the whole world.” she said. “That’s so unnatural.”
The singer is set to play three nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden this week, the start of a North American tour that runs up to Christmas. It’ll be the first time she’ll be out on the road without Finneas, who’ll be touring his own record. People shouldn’t read too much into this though. “It’s really not the end of anything,” she said. “You can’t be in two places at once.”
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