‘It was tough’: Billie Eilish recalls moment she realised all her ‘friends’ were employees
Pop singer recalled looking around at her 20th birthday party and realising her friends were actually employees
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Billie Eilish has claimed she lost all of her friends when she shot to global fame as a teenage pop star.
The “Bad Guy” singer, 22, achieved widespread recognition with her debut single “Ocean Eyes” before shooting to global fame upon the release of her first album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? when she was just 17 years old.
In a special episode of Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver’s podcast Miss Me?, Eilish answered listeners’ questions around the theme of ghosts, prompting her to open up about not having any friends when she first experienced fame.
“I lost all of my friends when I got famous,” she said. “Literally all except one. My best friend Zoe who I’ve been friends with since I was like two. She is still my girl.
“But she’s pretty much the only person that remained. I suddenly was famous and I couldn’t relate to anybody. It was tough. It was really hard.”
Oliver then asked her whether she tried to call those people up when she got back from tour, only to find they weren’t answering.
“I tried but I think I felt resentful that I didn’t feel… Like I don’t know I was so young,” Eilish responded, revealing that she realised all her “friends” were in fact her employees during a moment at her 20th birthday.
“I remember looking around the room and it was only people that I employ,” she said. “And all 15 years or more older than me. And then, one of my best friends, who worked with me, quit. Out of the blue and didn’t talk to me. And it was the worst thing that happened to me.”
“I had this realisation that oh no, I might be actually alone for real,” she said. “So since then I’ve become very distant in that way from people that I work with and I have a very weird relationship to being friendly with people that I work with because I’m very freaked out by loss and I have a lot of abandonment problems.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
“Also I would get into relationships and that would be my one friend… even if it was a relationship that I didn’t necessarily really want after a second, I’d be like well, that’s all I have.
“And then I worked really hard on friendship and making friends, and making new friends, and rekindling old friendships and about exactly a year ago, I reconnected with a bunch of old friends and now, I have so many friends.”
Eilish revealed that she then grew emotional during Coachella festival this year, in April, when she was on the way to a party.
“We get in the car and my friends were like what’s going on are you ok? And I was like totally fine… And I burst into tears,” she recalled. “And they said what’s going on and I was like guys, I have friends and I just love you guys so much and it’s been so long since I’ve had friends. I cried… and it’s literally because I actually have friendship now again.”
Eilish is currently supporting the release of her third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft. Read Helen Brown’s review here.
Miss Me? is available every Monday and Thursday on BBC Sounds.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments