Billie Eilish is nothing less than stoked about the current state of pop music.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published on Thursday, October 10, Eilish, 22, was asked if she felt threatened by the success of fellow pop stars Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.
“Are you kidding? I’m so happy for these bitches,” she told the outlet. “It’s a crazy world when you get to the level they’re experiencing right now, and they’re doing great. Fans are drawn to them because they’re f—ing awesome.”
The year 2024 has been fruitful for pop music, from Charli XCX’s iconic Brat (which featured Eilish on a remix of the song “Guess”) to the release of Carpenter’s Short ‘n Sweet in August. Eilish released her third studio album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, in May.
Roan, 26, for her part, experienced a meteoric rise to fame with her debut album The Rise and Fall Of a Midwest Princess, featuring hits like “Red Wine Supernova” and “HOT TO GO!” Roan has been open about her transition to superstardom and her struggles with it, including “predatory” behavior from “entitled” fans.
In the interview, both Eilish and her brother Finneas, who was also present, spoke to the current discourse about parasocial relationships and whether or not fans have lost any sense of boundaries when it comes to their favorite pop stars.
“It’s been lost,” Eilish told the outlet.
“You look back at the Beatles, and it’s the same thing. It’s just that everybody has a camera now,” Finneas added, with Eilish noting: “You have to remember when you’re everybody’s new favorite artist that it’s a big deal for them. It’s like seeing Bigfoot.”
Finneas replied, “And they’re not intimidated by you when you’re brand-new. I remember Billie and I being at our second Grammys and Beyoncé talking to us for the first time. This was 2021, and she’d had such a legendary run that it was like meeting royalty. I couldn’t believe we were talking to Beyoncé.”
He concluded, “But if I see somebody that’s just started out, where I haven’t had time to get intimidated by them, I might be much more likely to walk over and be like, ‘I know who you are.’”
Eilish has previously spoken about her struggles with rising to fame, saying in June that she “lost all of my friends” after she became famous at the young age 14. As for Roan, the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer took to TikTok in August to set some firm boundaries with her fans, particularly to those who feel entitled to photos or hugs when they meet her in person.
“I don’t want whatever the f— you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity,” Roan said in one TikTok video. “I don’t give a f— if you think it’s selfish of me to say no for a photo, or for your time, or for a hug. It’s weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online or you listen to the art they make.”
She added, “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous. I don’t care that it’s normal. I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it OK. That doesn’t make it normal. It doesn’t mean I want it. It doesn’t mean that I like it.”
Roan’s comments have since been praised by other iconic vocalists such as Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams. As for Eilish, the “Lunch” singer told the LA Times of Roan’s comments, “It’s hard out here, man — it’s hard.”
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