Grammy-winning singer Billie Eilish recently shared the major role that her hair color has played in her personal and artistic journey. The “bad guy” hitmaker’s transformations have paralleled key moments in her career, from her iconic lime green and black locks to a brief period as a blonde.
As revealed in her interview with LA Times, the decision to go blonde led to unexpected challenges. “At first, it was fun,” she said. “I was really excited for the blonde era—like, Blonde Billie is gonna be so cool. But it did not go how I wanted it to go.” The change prompted an identity crisis for Eilish, who felt she lost a part of herself. “I completely had no idea who I was,” she admitted.
Returning to her roots, quite literally, with black hair accented by red, Eilish found a sense of normalcy. She shared her mixed feelings about fame, noting both its drawbacks and thrilling moments, such as seeing herself on a Dodgers game Jumbotron. “I loved it,” she remarked. “That was literally my dream as a kid. Fame can be so horrendous, but there are parts of it that rock.”
Eilish’s green hair period in 2019 was a high point for her. “I was completely unstoppable,” she recalled. “I felt like I was on the moon. I’d never been happy before, and I just wanted to stay happy.” However, the following years brought challenges, including the pandemic and her album Happier Than Ever, which led to a rollercoaster of emotions.
Her song “What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie soundtrack captures this tumultuous period. Eilish realized she had based her happiness on external, changeable factors. “I was basing all my happiness on all these things in the material world that you have no control over,” she explained. The record was nominated five times at the 2024 Grammy Awards, which is slated to take place next year.
