Ahead of the release of her new studio album, Happier Than Ever, Billie Eilish has opened up about becoming famous at a young age, and the difficulties it caused as she was growing up.
The singer reflects on her When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? era in a new cover interview with Rolling Stone, saying that her slime green hair and oversized looks made it hard for her to go anywhere public at the time, without getting instantly recognised.
“I was a kid and I wanted to do kid shit,” she says. “I didn’t want to be not able to fucking go to a store or the mall. I was very angry and not grateful about it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Eilish also calls out those that pigeonholed her, or imitated her musical style, in the wake of When We All Fall Asleep. “What do they think when they think that?” she adds, referring to a statement that something is “very Billie Eilish”. “Do they think what the internet thinks, which is whispering or whatever the fuck people say?”
“Anytime I see an impression on the internet, it just reminds me how little the internet knows about me. Like, I really don’t share shit. I have such a loud personality that makes people feel like they know everything about me and they literally don’t at all.”
Eilish also addresses claims that her songs all sound the same, saying: “That really gets me.” However, she suggests that anyone that says that simply hasn’t been paying enough attention. “That’s one thing I really try hard to not do,” she adds. “I think the people that say that have literally only heard ‘Bad Guy’ and ‘Therefore I Am’.”
Earlier this month, Billie Eilish released her latest single from Happier Than Ever, “Lost Cause”. The track also arrived alongside a self-directed video, which subsequently sparked accusations of queerbaiting, especially after she shared behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot with the caption, “I love girls”.
Happier Than Ever is set to arrive in full on July 30.