Both precocious child prodigies turned global, Grammy-winning pop superstars, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish have had a long overlapping history.
Swift and Eilish, who released their debut albums at the ages of 16 and 17, respectively, have frequently celebrated each other’s successes within the industry. Swift even passed the baton to Eilish at Billboard’s 2019 Women In Music, presenting the “What Was I Made For?” singer with the Woman of the Year Award. (Swift had previously won in 2011 and 2014.)
In Swift’s 2014 acceptance speech, she referenced the younger generation of musicians yet to come — and she recalled the line when introducing Eilish five years later.
“My exact quote during this speech was, ‘I really just feel like we need to continue to try to offer something to a younger generation of musicians, because somewhere right now, your future woman of the year is probably sitting in a piano lesson or in a girls choir,’” Swift recalled in 2019. “‘And today, right now, we need to take care of her.’”
She continued, “I’ve since learned that at the exact moment, an 11-year-old girl in California really was taking piano lessons and really was in the girls choir, and this year, she has been named woman of the year at the age of 17. Her name is Billie.”
Despite their sweet moments, the duo made headlines in March 2024 when fans thought Eilish was making a dig at Swift for “wasteful” packaging. But Eilish later shut down the rumors, proving there’s no bad blood between the two of them.
Keep scrolling to take a look back at Swift and Eilish through the years:
Eilish Gives Thanks to Swift During Awards Show Acceptance Speech
After Swift introduced Eilish on stage at Billboard’s 2019 Women In Music, the “Bad Guy” singer gushed that “what Taylor said earlier was beautiful.”
After quoting Swift’s 2014 speech, Eilish said, “I was 11 at the time and I was in a choir and I was someone who played piano. And you took care of me, so thank you.”
Eilish Realizes ‘Picture to Burn’ Is Swift’s Song
Eilish revealed that one of her favorite songs as a child was “Picture to Burn” — which she didn’t realize was written by Swift until many years later.
“I used to love this song when I was like 4, no, probably older than that. Probably like 6,” Eilish shared on her “me & dad” radio in 2020. “It’s crazy. It’s very country. When I listen to it now, I’m like, wow. I totally didn’t realize how country this was. But I loved this song back then because I thought it was so bad-ass. I thought it was so cool and mean. I just loved it.”
She continued, “I actually didn’t know it was Taylor Swift until this year.”
Eilish Responds After Swifties Thought She Dissed Swift
In March 2024, Eilish spoke out about “big artists” using “wasteful” packaging without regard for the negative impact on the environment.
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Deal of the Day
Swift, for her part, has been known to rerelease rerecorded versions of her early albums as well as put out multiple physical and digital versions of her studio recordings.
Swifites were quick to interpret Eilish’s comments as a dig at Swift — which Eilish hit back at.
“OK so it would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what I said in that billboard article,” she wrote. “I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues.”
