She may the bad guy, but she's good in my book.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
In case you're living under some kind of prehistoric rock, you know that Billie Eilish swept the Grammys last night. Honestly, I can't open Instagram on my phone without seeing her face. She swept the "big four" categories, which includes best new artist, record of the year, album of the year, and song of the year. She was the youngest solo performer to ever win album of the year and only the second artist in history to win all four awards in one night. According to CNN, the record for youngest solo performer to win album of the year was previously held by Taylor Swift at age 20 for Fearless, and the last artist to win all four awards was Christopher Cross in 1981.
In case you were wondering, Christopher Cross is this guy, not to be confused with the hip-hop duo Kriss Kross of "JUMP! JUMP! Everybody jump!" fame. If you've never seen this guy in your life, hard same. Believe it or not, this completely stereotypical looking '80's guy beat out some pretty heavy hitters back in his day. According to Entertainment Weekly, he won the record of the year award over Bette Midler, Kenny Rogers, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand. I can't imagine why, especially after watching the clip above, but to each their own. The early '80s were a different time.
When I read that Billie Eilish swept the Grammys, I have to admit I was surprised. My girl Lizzo was nominated for all of the "big four" categories as well and I thought for sure that she was going to take home every single one of them, but she only ended up beating Billie Eilish for best pop vocal performance with "Truth Hurts". The weirdest thing about this is, according to Billboard, Christopher Cross also lost best pop vocal performance when he swept the Grammys in 1981. Wild.
I guess I was surprised because Lizzo has never been confusing to me. I know you can't tell by my *sparkling personality*, but I struggle with self esteem issues just like everyone else. Lizzo has helped me embrace myself like no other artist has since Lady Gaga in her Born This Way period. Billie Eilish, on other hand, confused me for the longest time. I've always liked her, but I wasn't sure of her staying power. She reminded me of other artists who I thought were going to last forever, but have since faded into obscurity. Now, after Billie Eilish's historic sweep at the Grammys, I truly believe that Billie Eilish is here to stay and will continue to dominate the 2020's.
The first time I heard Billie Eilish, I was, like I said, confused. I heard her song with Khalid, and I thought, what is this? Am I too old for this? Do today's college kids blast her album across their dorm like we did with Lorde's Pure Heroine? My friend told me she was big in California and would surely trickle over to Pittsburgh in due time, so I decided to do some research. I listened to some of her album and slowly spiraled into the Billie Eilish vortex. If you haven't listened to WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, "bury a friend" is a straight-up bop. I was excited when "bad guy" caught on, but I was still skeptical. Billie Eilish almost seemed too weird to stick around. Her style was unlike anyone else's, and she made some pretty weird music with even weirder visuals. Would the public embrace her like I had over the last few months? I wasn't sure. I had invested too much in artists like Lorde who don't do much these days to put my faith in Billie Eilish.
I'm more than willing to admit when I am wrong and learn from my mistakes, and I now realize it was a mistake to sleep on Billie Eilish. She embraces her own unique style, she's got more talent than most artists who have come and gone in the past ten years, and she's impossibly fun. I dare you to watch her on James Corden's carpool karaoke and not crack a smile.
The lesson here is that if you're still sleeping on Billie Eilish, it's time to stop. She is making history in the music industry, and I truly believe that we are lucky to be living in the same era as her. Last night at the Grammys, she swept all of the "big four" categories - the first woman and only the second artist ever to do so - and set a new record for the youngest solo performer to ever win record of the year. She is unique, fun, and as real as they come. I can't wait to see what Billie does next.