Billie Eilish wasn’t yet old enough to legally drive when she released her debut single, “Ocean Eyes,” to SoundCloud in 2015. Four years later, her freshman album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? debuted atop the Billboard 200 and spawned the diamond certified-single “Bad Guy.” Her star has only continued to rise ever since, sweeping the Big 4 categories at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards. Now 23, Eilish followed up with 2021’s Happier Than Ever and 2024’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. But recently, the two-time Oscar winner revealed that the latter’s top track almost never happened.
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Billie Eilish Wanted to Cut This Song
Released in July 2024, Billie Eilish’s new wave-inspired single “Birds of a Feather” was a standout track on her universally acclaimed album Hit Me Hard And Soft. Peaking atop three U.S. Billboard charts, the breezy hit added three GRAMMY nominations to Eilish’s repertoire. However, she wasn’t a huge fan at first.
“Multiple times I was like, ‘We should cut this,’” Eilish told the Wall Street Journal of the track, which she wrote with older brother Finneas. ““Even when I played the whole album for the label, I was like, ‘Guys, this one is kind of stupid.’”
Apparently, her team didn’t agree, and “Birds of a Feather” became the most-streamed song of 2024. That summer, you couldn’t go anywhere in public without hearing Eilish softly croon, Birds of a feather, we should stick together, I know / I said I’d never think I wasn’t better alone.
[RELATED: Billie Eilish Looks Shocked as Miami Concertgoer Grabs and Shoves Her to the Ground]
Putting Her Money Where Her Mouth Is
Billie Eilish ruffled some feathers (pun intended) on Wednesday, Oct. 29, when she accepted the Wall Street Journal Magazine’s Music Innovator of the Year award in New York City. In a room surrounded by some of the world’s wealthiest people, the “Lunch” singer wondered aloud why the people with the most resources often fail to use those resources for good.
“Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” Eilish asked. “No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”
And she isn’t just all talk. When presenting Billie Eilish with her latest trophy, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert revealed that the nine-time GRAMMY Award winner is donating $11.5 million from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to various organizations and charities.
Billie Eilish is donating $11.5 million from her ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ tour proceeds to support food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution and combatting the climate crisis. pic.twitter.com/NRSqWFLNmq
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 30, 2025
According to Rolling Stone, the proceeds will benefit organizations and projects that support food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution, and conducting crucial environmental work in combating the climate crisis.
Featured image by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
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