Billie Eilish responds to reporter who called her ‘sad-looking’ emo teenager

Singer won Oscar for Best Original Song at 94th annual Academy Awards

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Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas Baird O’Connell took home the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 94th annual Academy Awards for their title track from the James Bond film No Time To Die.

After accepting the award, the collaborators fielded questions in the Oscars media room, where one reporter asked Eilish about her evolution from an “emo, kind of sad-looking teenager” to an award-winning musician.

“We’ve seen you sort of grow up since your first album came out, and when you first came out you were sort of like an emo, sad-looking teenager and now you’re laughing and having a good time and you look very happy, and it’s so nice to see,” the reporter observed.

“I’m glad,” Eilish responded initially, prompting the reporter to then ask: “Do you feel that you’ve had a change in your career as the last couple of years have gone along?”

“I mean I went from 14 to 20, so that will do it,” the singer explained. “It’s just growth and ageing, I think. But yeah, I’m super happy.”

“I think that I’m just coming into my being aware of what is good around me,” she said. “When you’re that young, it’s hard to understand how big of a deal things are around you and how important things are.”

Eilish added: “I’m so thrilled that growing up has taught me to just be more aware of the greatness around me.”

The Oscar-award winning singer began her career at 14 years old when she uploaded her hit single Ocean Eyes to the music sharing website SoundCloud. In 2017, she released her first EP, which reached number 14 on the US Billboard 200. Eilish’s 2019 debut studio album - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? - reached number one in multiple countries when she was just 17 years old.

No Time To Die won its third award during the Oscars ceremony, having previously received a Golden Globe and a Grammy for best original song. Eilish recorded the track when she was 18 years old, making her the youngest-ever recording artist to work on a James Bond theme song. Beyoncé, Van Morrison, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Diane Warren were also nominated in the category. Find the full list of Oscars 2022 winners here.