Billie is proud of Bury a Friend’s popularity

With Ariana Grande continuing to dominate the US and UK pop charts, the music industry is searching for the girl who might become the next major female recording artiste. But Interscope Records may have already found her. Step forward 17-year-old singer/songwriter Billie Eilish.Born into a family of actors and musicians, Billie has been singing all her life and wrote her first song when she was just four.“That was about falling into a black hole,” she laughed. “Pretty cool subject matter for someone that age. I began really serious songwriting when I was 11.”She was so vocally talented that Billie joined the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus at the age of eight. Despite all these musical leanings, her initial intentions were to become either an actress or dancer.“I was in plays when I was little. My parents and brother are actors. Living in Los Angeles means there are always auditions for something or other. One day, I came home from an audition where some pretty lame stuff had happened and I just said I was never going to act again. That’s when I decided to concentrate on dancing.”Ironically, it was through dancing that Billie came to realise her true vocation.“My dance instructor knew about my musical background. He’d heard me sing a song to myself called Ocean Eyes. It’s such a beautiful song which was written by my brother. Finneas is incredibly talented. You might have seen him acting in things like the TV shows Glee and Modern Family. He also has his own band, The Slightlys. He’s been writing and producing songs since he was about 12.“I loved the song and couldn’t get it out of my head. I’d go around humming or singing it quietly. My dance teacher picked up on this. He asked if I could record Ocean Eyes and send it to him so that he could choreograph a dance routine to the song.“I recorded it with Finneas and we put Ocean Eyes on SoundCloud ready for my teacher. We’d already put two songs on SoundCloud, one that I wrote and one Finneas wrote, just for fun and for our friends to hear. We uploaded the song, I went to bed, checked SoundCloud the next morning and found it had a whole bunch of plays.“That was just the start. I remember being really thrilled when Finneas told me Ocean Eyes had got 1,000 plays. We were over the moon. We thought we’d made it. But it just kept going. I didn’t really appreciate how big it was becoming until we reached 50,000 plays. It now has about 15 million.”Record companies knew a good thing when they heard it. Interscope won the battle to sign Billie and were immediately rewarded by the world-wide chart success of her 2017 debut EP, Don’t Smile At Me. Containing nine tracks, 11 on the expanded edition, it is really more like an album than an EP which would usually house four or five songs.A number 12 spot on the UK Albums chart was almost matched by a number 14 peak on the Billboard 200. Top ten positions were reached in the Scandinavian countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. Don’t Smile At Me also hit number one on Billboard’s Alternative Albums chart.While Billie’s burgeoning music career was moving from strength to strength, there was one important aspect of her life which left her feeling decidedly downcast.“I couldn’t dance. I got a bad injury. I strained my growth plate. My hip bone separated from my muscle. It’s something that can’t happen if you’re over 16. But I was in a dance class with seniors because my ability was at that level. We were doing a hip hop dance and it just popped. I love movement and performing the most challenging choreography so being unable to dance was horrible and so frustrating.”The injury did leave Billie free to concentrate on her music. Although she and Finneas have occasionally teamed with other writers, they much prefer just working together. The siblings have written and produced almost every song Billie has recorded. But don’t look for Billie Eilish among the writing credits.“My name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell. Baird is my mother’s family name and I almost didn’t get Pirate as a middle name because my uncle said pirates were bad. I use Billie O’Connell as my writing name so that’s what appears on the credits.”Billie and Finneas have now created the songs for her 14-track debut album, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Set for release on March 29, the first two singles, You Should See Me In a Crown and When The Party’s Over, sold fairly well.But it is the third single, Bury a Friend, which has given Billie her initial taste of truly significant singles chart success. The track hit number seven in Britain, 14 in America, top ten in numerous countries and number one in Sweden.“I’m so pleased that the song has proved so popular. It was a very important song in that when we made Bury a Friend, the whole album clicked in my head. I immediately knew what it was going to be about, what the visuals were going to be and everything in terms of how I wanted it to be perceived. Bury a Friend effectively inspired the entire album.“The song is written from the perspective of the monster under my bed. If you put yourself in that mindset, what is this creature doing or feeling? I also confess that I’m this monster because there are times when I’m my own worst enemy. I might also be the monster under your bed.”As with her previous work, Billie’s album was created in her brother’s bedroom at the O’Connell family home in Highland Park, Los Angeles.“We tried renting a studio but it didn’t really work. It was far better at home. Some songs start with lyrics, others with a melody or beat. It’s different each time. Working at home means we can do it at whatever time, day or night, whenever ideas and inspiration might come.“It might seem strange not to work in a professional studio. But Finneas’ bedroom is just as good in many ways and it seems like the best place for us to make what we hope are great songs.”Ariana GrandeNot since The Beatles 55 years ago has any act achieved the kind of US chart dominance currently enjoyed by singer/songwriter Ariana Grande.The latest Billboard Hot 100 sees Ariana hold the top three spots with 7 Rings, Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored and Thank U, Next. The last time this happened was on the April 25, 1964, chart when The Beatles took numbers one, two and three with Can’t Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout and Do You Want To Know a Secret.The Fab Four do still hold at least one US singles chart record over Ariana. In the chart dated April 4, 1964, they occupied the top five positions.Thanks to the relatively recent use of online streams being counted towards chart placings, all 12 tracks on Ariana’s Billboard 200 chart-topping album, Thank U, Next, are listed on the Hot 100. Eleven are in the top 40. This sets a record for the most simultaneous Billboard Hot 100 top 40 entries by a female artist. Only Make Up missed out by charting at number 48.It would undoubtedly be a similar story on the UK singles chart. However, recent rule changes introduced to discriminate against songs which are not officially released singles restrict artistes to just three entries.This means that while Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Boreds debuted at number one and 7 Rings dropped to number two, former chart-topper Thank U, Next would appear to have fallen from number 28 to outside the top 100. This is certainly not the case but the song is no longer able to be listed because album track, Needy, has entered the chart at number eight.Lady GagaLady Gaga is single again. She and her former fiance, Christian Carino, have ended their engagement.Christian was Gaga’s agent when they began dating in February, 2017. Although he apparently proposed marriage just a few months into their romantic relationship, Gaga did not go public with the news until last October when she flashed her engagement ring and named Christian as her fiance during a speech at Elle magazine’s 25th annual Women in Hollywood Celebration.Rumours about the failure of their romance began on Valentine’s Day when Gaga posted pictures of two new tattoos on social media but made no mention of her fiance. A few days later, Christian did not accompany her to the Grammy Awards ceremony and she did not wear her engagement ring.This is Gaga’s second failed engagement. She had previously been engaged to actor Taylor Kinney but they split up towards the end of 2016.