Billie Eilish dishes on sexuality and anxieties about fame in revealing cover story
Los Angeles, California - Billie Eilish has teed up her new era with a revealing interview touching on the chatter surrounding her sexuality, her complicated relationship with the media, and what fans can expect from her next album.
The 22-year-old singer graced the cover of Rolling Stone on Wednesday as she gears up for the release of her anticipated third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft.
Billie spoke about one of the new tracks, Lunch, which she recently teased at Coachella, and revealed that the song played a key role in understanding her sexuality.
"That song was actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real," she said. "I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after."
The Grammy winner also opened up about her claims that she had been "outed" by Variety on a red carpet when the interviewer brought up her cover story for the outlet in which she revealed she was "physically attracted" to women.
Billie said she had "never" planned to discuss her sexuality, but she conceded that she may have "overreacted" when she accused Variety of "outing" her.
"The whole world suddenly decided who I was, and I didn't get to say anything or control any of it," she explained.
"Nobody should be pressured into being one thing or the other, and I think that there's a lot of wanting labels all over the place."
The What Was I Made For? artist continued on to explain that seeing how quickly her own quotes can get plastered all over social media – oftentimes getting twisted in the process – has contributed to a sense of "paranoia."
Billie Eilish re-introduces herself with Hit Me Hard and Soft
"The way that the world has treated me into feeling extremely anxious about everything that I say," Billie said.
"It's really exhausting when anything I say can become a headline, completely taken out of context, and it leads to constant paranoia."
The bad guy singer hopes that Hit Me Hard and Soft, due out May 17, can help her reclaim the narrative around her own life.
"This album, to me, feels like a way to restart, in terms of my sharing," she said.
Though she's hoping to present the most accurate version of herself today, Billie added that what makes the album particularly special is its connection to the past.
"It's not a character. It feels like the When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? version of me. It feels like my youth and who I was as a kid," she said.
Billie will not be releasing any lead singles for Hit Me Hard and Soft, but, along with Lunch, she previously shared a snippet of CHIHIRO during an interview with Zane Lowe.
Cover photo: Arturo Holmes / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP