Billie Eilish says her fans were like her friends when she first found pop success.
The 22-year-old singer achieved notoriety when she was just 14 when her song ‘Ocean Eyes’ became popular online.
Although her path to pop superstardom was in front of her, Billie was experiencing pain in her personal life as she was losing her friends who were all going to high school, whilst she and her brother and songwriting partner Finneas O’Connell were home-schooled.
But Billie says the love of her fans filled the void she had in her life.
Appearing on the ‘Fresh Air’ podcast, she said: “What’s interesting is we were home schooled. We didn’t go to school, but Finneas and I both had so many friends growing up. And we did so many things and there was no shortage of friends. There was no shortage of activities
“Then when I became famous-ish at 14, it was not a good time in terms of like keeping friendships. I think when you’re 14, that’s kind of an age where friendships are already kind of rocky. And also all my friends did go to school. So they were all going to high school and suddenly I had no way of relating to anyone. I kind of lost all my friends. And I, I maintained a couple, but those were really challenging to keep even still.
“And so for those few years of becoming this, like enormous superstar, I was kind of feeling like, ‘Wait, what the hell is the point? I don’t have any friends and I’m losing all the things that I love so deeply and all the people that I love.’
“So in a way, the fans kind of saved me in that way because they were my age and I felt like they were the only kind of friends I had for a while.”
Billie also thinks the fact that her fans have always been the same age as her has helped her deal with the pitfalls and pressures of fame.
She said: “Even though it was a lot for a young brain and body to deal with, in a way, the fact that I was a teenager and they were also teenagers, somehow felt less kind of, I don’t know, I think I just felt so connected to them because we were all the same age. I think it can be really hard when you’re an adult and you have fans that are children to you or way older than you.
“I think that something about us all kind of feeling like we were growing up together was honestly comforting to me. And also, I didn’t really have many friends for a couple of years.”