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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Charlotte Smith

Billie Eilish - who is Glastonbury's youngest headliner and how did she become famous?

Billie Eilish is set to make history by becoming Glastonbury Festival's youngest-ever solo headliner when she takes to the Pyramid Stage Friday night (June 24). The 20-year-old first took to Glastonbury back in 2019 where she performed on the Other Stage to a jam-packed crowd following the success of her breakout hit, Bad Guy.

But tonight, she will be heading to the biggest stage at the UK's biggest outdoor festival - the same stage the likes of Kylie Minogue, Lionel Richie, Dolly Parton, Tom Jones, James Brown and Dame Shirley Bassey have performed in previous years.

Since first gaining recognition in 2015 for her song "Ocean Eyes", the singer-songwriter has rocketed to global stardom, having won seven Grammy awards in 2020 and singing the theme song for the 2021 James Bond film 'No Time To Die', plus eight UK top 10 hits.

READ MORE: The best dressed festival goers on day two of Glastonbury

But who exactly is Billie Eilish and how did she become so famous?

Billie is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She was born December 18, 2001, and by age 11, she quickly realised her passion for music and would regularly write songs with her older brother Finneas O'Connell. Her mother also wrote songs and her father played instruments, including the piano and the ukulele.

In 2015, Finneas enlisted his sister to sing a song he had written and produced for his band at the time called "Ocean Eyes", and later put on Sound Cloud in 2016. After releasing the debut single, it wasn’t long before Billie built a strong online following and Billie was signed with the boutique label Darkroom in the summer of 2016.

Billie then released an an eight-song EP, written by herself and her brother, in August 2017 titled "Don't Smile At Me". Following its release, Don’t Smile at Me peaked at 14 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Billie Eilish performing at AO Arena in Manchester (Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images for Live Nation UK)

Continuing on her journey of music industry success, her debut album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" was released March 29, 2019 and reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2020, it won a Grammy for album of the year, while her song "Bad Guy" from the same album reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won a Grammy for song of the year.

By 2019, Billie released her single "Everything I Wanted", which was later awarded a Grammy for record of the year. Two years later, a documentary about the artist came out, titled Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.

In January 2020, it was announced that Billie would be recording the song for the next James Bond film, No Time To Die. The song, which was written by Billie and her brother, went on to receive an Oscar for Best Original Song.

In 2021, Billie's second studio album was released, "Happier Than Ever". Many songs in the album deal with the downside of her celebrity. Fast forward to the summer of 2022, and she will have made history by becoming the youngest solo headliner to perform on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.

As of June 2022, Billie's net worth is estimated to be roughly $25 million. Billie first went on tour in October 2017, and has since performed at nearly 400 concerts.

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