In the family! Billie Eilish (real name Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell) has skyrocketed to fame in the past few years with songs like “Bad Guy” and “Lovely.” It turns out, her brother, Finneas O’Connell, has been right by her side for all of it. He makes his own music but has also cowritten many songs with his younger sister.
During an episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden in December 2019, Billie revealed that Finneas claimed he was going to make her “the biggest pop star in the world” back in 2015. Mission accomplished!
Billie, 19, gave a tour of her childhood home — where she still lives today — to the late-night talk show host. The songstress showed off the bedroom of her 23-year-old brother where they wrote and produced a bunch of her now-famous music. “We made the whole album and the EP in his little bedroom in our house,” she explained.
Their parents, Patrick O’Connell and Maggie Baird, have always been extremely supportive of their kids’ big music dreams. Billie even noted that they had a rule in their house that they “couldn’t go to bed if they were making music.” Her mom, who was beaming with pride, gushed that their creations have “never not been mind-blowing.”
Finneas’ hand in Billie’s success is not lost on the pop star. She gave him a special shout-out at Variety‘s Hitmakers brunch at Soho House in West Hollywood while accepting the Hitmaker of the Year award. “When we were working on [When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?], somebody told me and my brother, Finneas who’s my cowriter, that there was no hit on the album,” she admitted. “I don’t know how that was supposed to help anyone, but that fool was wrong!”
Her brother has had a huge impact on her life and career. “A big thank you to my big brother Finneas. Finneas is my best friend, my big brother, he’s four years older than me and we’ve been best friends forever,” she continued. “We started making music together when I was 13 and he was 17; he produces everything. He’s the only reason I’m anywhere in the whole world and he’s probably the only reason I’m alive.”
We can’t get enough of the O’Connell family!