Billie Eilish and James Corden Reminisce About Their First ‘Late Late Show’ Encounter Six Years Ago

Billie Eilish made her television performance debut with her breakthrough single “Ocean Eyes” on The Late Late Show with James Corden six years ago. “I’ve been watching you for some time,” the then-15-year-old singer sang, all crisp vocals, with her brother Finneas stationed in the back corner of the stage. Two years later, in 2019, Eilish returned to the show to sing those same lyrics alongside Alicia Keys. Now, for the final week of the Late Late Show before Corden’s departure, the singer has returned not to perform but to reminisce about those pivotal early career days.

“I remember that I was very nervous and I was very sick. I was sick for many years, I feel like — just, everything I did, I was sick,” Eilish told Corden. “And my voice was kind of messed up, and I was just really nervous, and I just wanted to really do a good job. And I remember you came to meet us in the room and I remember it was like the first celebrity I’d ever been up close to. It was amazing. I was just on 10 all day.”

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Corden’s own reflection on the moment, which arrived two years before the release of Eilish’s record-breaking debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2019, was marked with the feeling that he was witnessing something special.

“I remember it so vividly. I remember just thinking, ‘Oh, no, no, this is an artist I’m going to watch the rest of my life,'” Corden shared. “But I remember meeting your mom, meeting your brother, meeting your dad. I feel like this entire eight years [of The Late Late Show], in one way or another, you or members of your family have really spanned this whole time for me. And the best thing I can say, and I tried to say it at the start of the show, is you are exactly the same person that I met then. In your core, in your person, truly. It’s a credit to you and it’s a credit to your family.”

The final episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden will air on Thursday, April 27, featuring appearances from Harry Styles and Will Ferrell.

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