Billie Eilish Receives BRIT Billion Award
Written by djfrosty on August 30, 2023
Billie Eilish has become the 20th artist to receive a BRIT Billion Award from the BPI. The award is presented to those who have surpassed one billion career U.K. streams as calculated by the Official Charts Company. Eilish’s Grammy-winning smash “Bad Guy” has more than 300 million U.K. streams, with six other Eilish tracks topping 100 million U.K. streams.
Eilish lands her second No. 1 hit on the Official U.K. Singles Chart this week with “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie: The Album. Her first U.K. No. 1 was also a film song, “No Time to Die” from the movie of the same name. Eilish has likewise had two No. 1 albums on the Official U.K. Albums Chart. She was just 17 when she topped that chart for the first time with her debut, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which made her the youngest female artist to top that chart.
Eilish won BRIT Awards in three consecutive years. She was voted international female solo artist (2020, 2021) and international artist of the year (2022). Eilish, 21, continues to set “youngest” records. Just last week, she became the youngest artist to top the bills at Reading and Leeds festivals.
The first wave of 13 artists to receive the BRIT Billion award, which launched on May 4, consisted of global icons ABBA, Coldplay, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston; pioneering rap and hip-hop artists AJ Tracey and Headie One; and chart-conquering pop artists and singer-songwriters Anne-Marie, Ellie Goulding, George Ezra, Lewis Capaldi, RAYE, Rita Ora and Sam Smith.
Recent recipients include Olivia Rodrigo (who at 20 is the youngest recipient to date), Lana Del Rey, Queen, Wizkid, Becky Hill and James Arthur.
The award reflects the extent to which streaming has transformed the music landscape over the past decade. More than 85% of the U.K.’s recorded music consumption now takes place through streaming. In 2022, there were a record 160 billion audio streams in the U.K.