Billie Eilish gets four Vogue covers and opens up about the downfalls of fame

'I never knew there was a thing I had to follow.'
February 3, 2020 12:20 p.m. EST
February 5, 2020 11:00 p.m. EST
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We’re only one full month into 2020 and it’s already safe to deem this as the year of Billie Eilish. Again. The teen singer has continued to dominate the charts with her moody pop, including her latest single “Everything I Wanted,” and at last month’s Grammy Awards, Eilish walked away with wins in five of the six categories she was nominated in, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Bad Guy,” Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Now Eilish is adding cover model to her growing resume, with Vogue magazine dedicating not one, but four new covers to the bonefide star.Four covers could feel like overkill for most artists, but in the world of Eilish, her actions are rarely subtle. The singer has consistently dropped singles that have made a huge impact on the charts and at the Grammys, Eilish became the first woman to win all four major categories in a single year. In April, she’ll make history again No Time to Die is released, marking Eilish as the youngest artist ever to record a theme song for the James Bond film franchise.Sporting her neon green hair and chosen uniform of oversized, logo-heavy ensembles, Eilish may not seem like an obvious choice for a high fashion magazine cover star, but the 18-year-old has carved out a career based on juxtapositions: A loud look with a hauntingly soft and beautiful voice; an ever-present scowl on the red carpet mixed with a sense of humour and warmth in interviews; a popstar who can speak to her peers in a way that makes them feel heard, while still producing music that adults are happy to keep on repeat.
Eilish has some thoughts on her wide-ranging appeal.“Maybe people see me as a rule-breaker because they themselves feel like they have to follow rules, and here I am not doing it,” Eilish told Vogue. “That’s great, if I can make someone feel more free to do what they actually want to do instead of what they are expected to do. But for me, I never realized that I was expected to do anything. I guess that’s what is actually going on—that I never knew there was a thing I had to follow. Nobody told me that s**t, so I did what I wanted.”[video_embed id='1876655']RELATED: Billie Eilish pens the new 'Bond' theme[/video_embed]Growing up in a loving and supportive household with her parents and BFF brother Finneas, who is also her producing and writing partner, Eilish says her homeschool surroundings enabled her to flourish. “I’m so glad I didn’t go to school, because if I had, I would never have the life I have now. [Los Angeles Children’s] Chorus was my favorite thing in the world,” she said, who added that she didn’t make the cut for the chamber singers’ group at 13, a devastating blow at the time.“It was really emotional for me. I knew that if I left, everybody would form new friendships without me. When I think back to me crying about it then, I was crying about the future and what I thought would be, and you know what? I was totally right. You can’t stop people from moving on when they have to. When you go on a trip, you can’t expect people to sit still until you get back.”
Eilish has undoubtedly become the voice of her generation, one that has grown up with an understanding that depression and anxiety are valid mental health issues. Eilish has focused on darker times in their music, including toxic friendships and poor body image.“I just hated my body. I would have done anything to be in a different one,” said Billie. “I really wanted to be a model, really bad, and I was chubby and short. I developed really early. I had boobs at nine. I got my period at 11. So my body was going faster than my brain. It’s funny, because when you’re a little kid, you don’t think of your body at all. And all of a sudden, you look down and you’re, like, whoa. What can I do to make this go away?”As her star continues to rise, Eilish said she’s now able to understand the fame monster that threatened the careers of some of her favourite artists. The point is eerily highlighted when a fruit basket arrives from a follower at her doorstep mid-interview. “As a fan growing up, I was always like, 'What the f*** is wrong with them?' But the bigger I get, the more I’m like, Oh, my God, of course they had to do that. In my dark places I’ve worried that I was going to become the stereotype that everybody thinks every young artist becomes, because how can they not?”Though she's been open about pats self-injurious behaviour and struggles with depression Billie reveals she’s now in a more positive mental and emotional space. “When people ask me what I’d say to somebody looking for advice on mental health, the only thing I can say is patience. I had patience with myself. I didn’t take that last step. I waited. Things fade.”[video_embed id='1889708']You’ll never guess which talk show host surprised Meghan Trainor on ‘Carpool Karaoke’[/video_embed]

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