Billie Eilish Says Her Song ‘Goldwing’ Is About Olivia Rodrigo: ‘I Do Feel a Protectiveness Over Olivia’
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The pop star opened up about how she feels akin to the pop-rock artist in an interview with 'The Los Angeles Times'
Stefanie Keenan/Getty
Olivia Rodrigo and Billie EilishBillie Eilish is looking out for another young artist in the music industry.
The pop star, 21, opened up in an interview with The Los Angeles Times about how she feels “a protectiveness over” Olivia Rodrigo, in part because she was the first young artist to break into superstardom after her. The Grammy winner even revealed that her song “Goldwing” off 2021’s Happier Than Ever was inspired by her.
Eilish told the outlet, “I think everybody’s experiences are so individual … Nobody has had anybody else’s life, you know? But I do feel a protectiveness over Olivia.”
Stefanie Keenan/Getty
Billie Eilish and Olivia RodrigoThe “Bad Guy” singer explained that she felt like she could relate to the way Rodrigo, 20, became famous seemingly overnight while still in her teens — just like she did. “Olivia was getting big, and she was just, like, this little dainty child,” the hitmaker said of the former Disney Channel star who is 14 months her junior. “I felt so nervous. I was worried about her. She came up in that acting world, and people are so weird. I don’t know — I just felt very protective over her.
Rodrigo's ascension after the release of her hit single “Driver’s License” in 2021 even led the “Bury a Friend” artist to write a song. “I have a song called ‘Goldwing’ from my last album that’s kind of about her. I’ve never said that to anyone,” she admitted to the LA Times of the track featuring lyrics about a woman being taken advantage of. (“They're gonna tell you what you wanna hear / Then they're gonna disappear / Gonna claim you like a souvenir / Just to sell you in a year,” she sings before repeating, “Better keep your head down.”)
Eilish added, “It’s not only about her. I was just thinking about her when I was writing it. She was coming up, and she was younger than me, and nobody had ever been younger than me.”
The alt-pop superstar explained that it’s not just the Guts star whose experience she relates to, mentioning 16-year-old Barbie star Ariana Greenblatt. “I feel that way to everyone,” she added. “I just see myself in all these young girls.”
The Oscar winner has opened up in interviews before about how challenging it was for her to grow up in the public eye after her going viral at age 14 with the release of her debut single, 2016’s “Ocean Eyes.”
"Growing up in the public eye is a very bruising experience, and it's really hard to grow and change," she told the BBC in 2022. "I just didn't really know what to do. I was just grasping at straws."
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Related: Olivia Rodrigo Says It’s ‘Insane’ to Get 6 Grammy Nominations: ‘Such An Honor’ (Exclusive)
In a more recent interview with Allure from September, she revealed that she is just “starting to do better” with fame after having “not been doing so great” with it for a long time.
"I have impending-doom feelings most of the day. When I think too much about it, how I can never have privacy again, it’s enough to make you want to do all sorts of crazy things," she shared. "But you have to let it go.”
The “When the Party’s Over”performer recently received five Grammy nominations for “What Was I Made For?,” the heartbreaking ballad about finding one’s purpose again that she wrote for the Barbie movie soundtrack. The song, which the star has said she realized was immensely personal after writing it, is up for major categories including record of the year and song of the year, among others.
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