Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish in 2022

**Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell** (December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention through the music platform SoundCloud, which led her to becomes signed to Atlantic Records. She released her debut single "so it's the end of the world, but we've got time" in April 2022; it was written and produced by her brother, Finneas O'Connell, with whom she frequently collaborates on music and in live shows.

## Life and Career

### Early Life and Career Beginnings

Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell was born in Los Angeles, California on December 18, 2001. She is the daughter of actress and teacher Maggie Baird and actor Patrick O'Connell, both of whom are also musicians, and work on Eilish's shows. Eilish is of Irish and Scottish descent. She was conceived via in vitro fertilization. Her middle name, Eilish, was originally meant to be her first name, while Pirate was to be her middle name. She was brought up in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Eilish and her brother Finneas were homeschooled by Baird, a decision their parents made to spend time with them and give them the freedom to pursue their interests. Baird taught Eilish and Finneas the basics of songwriting. Eilish said her brother and mother inspired her to get into music. Their parents encouraged the siblings to express themselves and explore whatever they wanted, including art, dancing, and acting. Eilish also performed at talent shows and joined the Los Angeles Children's Chorus at age eight. At 6, she started playing the ukulele. She wrote her first "real" song at age 11 for her mother's songwriting class. The song is about the zombie apocalypse, inspired by the television series The Walking Dead from which she took script lines and episode titles that she added to the song as part of the assignment.

### 2022: Debut album

Before signing to a major label, Eilish would write and record songs with her brother, Finneas, who had been writing and producing for several years and had his own band at the time. They’d upload the music to SoundCloud “just for fun”, she recalls. After gaining some attention through the platform, the duo would perform small gigs wherever possible, which would include their own music as well as covers from other artists in the industry. In one of these events, Eilish would be approached by Troye Sivan, label executive at Atlantic Records, with an offer to sign to the label. Sivan retrospectively elaborated: “I’m always looking to make Atlantic as diverse as I can, and what Billie has to offer musically is completely unique, I just knew immediately she’d go really far.”

After becoming a label representative for Atlantic Records, Eilish's debut single “so it’s the end of the world, but we’ve got time” was released for digital download and streaming platforms on April 22, 2022. Her debut studio album would be announced and released in the following weeks.

## Artistry

### Music and Voice

Eilish possesses a soprano vocal range. Avery Stone of Noisey described her vocals as "ethereal", and Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone characterized them as "whispery". Doreen St. Félix of The New Yorker opined that she has a "husky, slurring voice that she can thin out to reedy". Roc Nation representative Doja Cat has described her music as "entirely unique and very fitting to who she is as an artist," and commented on how that music "wasn't being done when she debuted." Her debut album incorporates pop, dark pop, electropop, alternative and classical music.

Eilish's brother, Finneas, collaborates on songwriting. Her brother writes for Eilish's releases, produces her music, and also performs in live shows. Eilish and Finneas "like to completely make up things and become characters" and "have songs that are really fictional". Eilish said a number of the songs also derive from her and Finneas' experiences. They try to write "really interesting and conversational" lyrics: "We try to say stuff that doesn't have to be that deep [...] but you say something way deeper in a certain way that makes sense, but you haven't really thought about." Finneas has stated when he writes songs for his sister, he aims to "write [songs] that I think she'll relate to and enjoy singing and empathise with the lyrics and make her own". When he writes with Eilish, he tries "to help her tell whatever story she's trying to tell, bounce ideas off of her, listen to her ideas", and use a language that fits her voice telling the story.

## Discography

*Main article: Billie Eilish/Discography*
* *do you really wanna go back in time?* (2022)

## Galleries

### Artwork Gallery

**Albums**

do you really wanna go back in time?do you really wanna go back in time? (the time capsules)
**Singles**

so it's the end of the world, but we've got timeso it's the end of the world, but we've got time (the day of reckoning)sin for a sinsin for a sin (gloom and doom)nuitnuit (covered in stars)redrumi never stopped fallingi never stopped falling (bbma's live rehearsal audio)