Billie Eilish Has Advice for Women & Aspiring Artists: ‘You Don’t Have to Be Exceptional’
Written by djfrosty on September 28, 2023
Billie Eilish had a few words of advice for women and aspiring artists in her Thursday (Sept. 28) cover story for Allure: Be yourself, do your best and the rest will follow. In the interview, the “What Was I Made For?” singer reflected on always having a clear vision for herself with regards to her music career, but wanted fans to know that it’s OK to not have it all figured out.
“I have to give credit to the person I’ve always been — I did not give a f–k at all. Between being a 14-year-old girl, and Finneas being a 17-year-old boy, and us making these little songs — we had to be very clear we weren’t going to just do what anybody said,” Eilish said of often being the youngest in the room. “People could have done crazy s–t, and I didn’t let them. It was many, many years of having to convince a room full of people that I was going to do what I knew was right for me. I had ideas; I had plans.”
While the 21-year-old credited her younger self for following her intuition, she took a moment to point out that having less direction is also fine. “But the thing is, people should know — women should know — you don’t have to be exceptional,” she countered. “You can just be a person, and you should get awards for just being. Sometimes artists don’t have plans, and that’s fine, but I did, and I wasn’t going to waste them.”
Though Eilish is grateful that her music resonates with fans, it does come with the pressure of being recognized on an international scale — something that she says she still grapples with years into her career.
“I’m starting to do better, but I’ve not been doing so great, to be honest. For a while. I have impending-doom feelings most of the day,” the seven-time Grammy explained of her amount of exposure. “When I think too much about it, how I can never have privacy again, it’s enough to make you want to do all sorts of crazy things. But you have to let it go.”
Up next for the singer is the release of her third perfume, Eilish No. 3. The fragrance is set to be released om November, and is the last in its collection. As for more songs from the star, she previously told The Cookout, “there is a whole album of music coming.”
See photos from her Allure cover below: