Billie Eilish on Growing Up with Fans and Making Magic with Finneas on ‘Kimmel’

Billie Eilish stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night (Sept. 3) to chat about her new album Hit Me Hard and Soft, her creative process, and the connection she shares with her fans. At just 22, the singer-songwriter already boasts seven Grammy Awards and has broken streaming records worldwide.

“I’ve always been such an album lover,” she told Kimmel, explaining why she prefers to release full-length projects. “I really love when something feels like one piece and is cohesive and thought through.”

Eilish, who made history as the youngest person to sweep the top four Grammy categories in 2020, shared how she carefully arranges the flow of each album. “I’ll write down all the names, tear them up, move them around… it’s all about dynamics and the flow.”

The “Lunch” singer also touched on her long-standing relationship with her fans, likening seeing familiar faces at her concerts over the years to “seeing old friends again.”

“What’s been so cool is that all of these fans, all of my little family, we’ve been growing up at the same time,” she told Kimmel. “So many kids, especially in L.A. because I’m from here and I’m around and stuff, when I was first starting out there would be certain kids that I would see at everything I would do, and we were all the same age.”

Eilish continued, “So they would come to stuff and I would see them multiple times a year and then not for a couple years, and then I’d see them again. Over the years I’ve seen the same faces multiple times, and it feels like seeing my old friends again.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she treated the audience to an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip of her and her brother, Finneas, working on the track “Birds of a Feather” while in the back of an SUV in Brazil.

“This is such a normal thing for me and Finneas,” she said, referring to their sibling collaboration that has produced multiple hit records, including the James Bond theme “No Time to Die.” “We’ve recorded everywhere—from a tour bus bunk to little hotel rooms. It’s casual, but we love it.”

With her Hit Me Hard and Soft World Tour kicking off Sept. 29 in Quebec, Eilish shared how she balances life on the road. “I don’t ever want to resent it,” she explained. “I love touring, but you can start hating yourself if you’re gone for too long, so I make sure to take breaks in between.”

Eilish’s latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in June, marking the biggest weekly album units of her career. All 10 tracks from the album made it into the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40, including “Lunch” at No. 5, her highest debut to date. The album also secured 90,000 units in vinyl sales, earning Eilish her fifth consecutive No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.