Billie Eilish and Finneas have won Best Original Song for “What Was I Made For?” at the 2024 Academy Awards. Eilish and her brother received the award in person at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, where they thanked Barbie director Greta Gerwig, their parents, and more during their acceptance speech. Watch it below.
“I had a nightmare about this last night,” Eilish said at the top of her speech, before bursting into laughter. She continued:
Thank you so much to the Academy. I feel like… I just didn’t think this would happen. I was not expecting this. I feel so incredibly lucky and honored. Thank you to Greta. Where did you go? I love you! Thank you for this! I’m so grateful for this song and for this movie and the way that it made me feel. And this goes out to everyone who was affected by the movie and how incredible it is. And I want to thank my team and my parents. I love you guys so much.
Finneas thanked songwriting collaborators Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt in his speech, as well as Margot Robbie, his best friends, and his parents. Eilish shouted out her best friend for playing with Barbie dolls with her as a child, and a certain school choir teacher, saying, “you didn’t like me, but you were good at your job.”
The other nominees were Barbie’s “I’m Just Ken” (performed by Ryan Gosling), Flamin’ Hot’s “The Fire Inside” (written by Diane Warren and performed by Becky G), American Symphony’s “It Never Went Away” (written by Jon Batiste and Semisonic’s Dan Wilson and performed by Batiste), and Killers of the Flower Moon’s “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” written by Scott George and performed by the Osage Tribal Singers.
Earlier in the evening, Eilish and Finneas played “What Was I Made For?” live at the award ceremony with additional backing from an orchestra. Fellow Barbie cut “I’m Just Ken” also came to life onstage thanks to a theatrical performance by Ryan Gosling and dozens of Kens, as did Becky G’s “The Fire Inside,” Jon Batiste’s “It Never Went Away,” and Scott George and the Osage Tribal Singers’ “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People).”
