WATCH: Billie Eilish reacts to Dave Grohl’s Nirvana comparison
24 June 2022, 21:06 | Updated: 13 April 2023, 09:48
Billie Eilish on Dave Grohl's praise
The singer-songwriter revealed what she thought when the Foo Fighters man compared the passion of her fanbase to Nirvana's in 1991.
Billie Eilish told Radio X what she thought when she heard that none other than Dave Grohl called her the spirit of “authentic” rock ’n’ roll.
The 20-year-old singer songwriter from Los Angeles was named as the hottest new artist to come out of the US, when her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, was released in 2019.
This weekend, she makes history as the youngest performer to ever headline Glastonbury festival.
Billie Eilish - No Time To Die
In 2019, the Foo Fighters frontman revealed that his daughters were big fans of Billie and explained that he felt the singer’s connection with her audience reminded him of the reaction his old band Nirvana had back in the 90s.
Talking to Radio X shortly afterwards, Eilish admitted that she was still gobsmacked by the comparison, saying: “Can you even believe that? I can’t even believe that.”
She went on: “Are you kidding? He said rock isn’t dead because of me. Dude, I grew up on that shit.”
Billie Eilish - bad guy
The bad guy singer was referring to the time the Foo Fighters legend praised her at the Pollstar Live conference in 2019, where he discussed everything from the late Kurt Cobain to the future of rock 'n' roll.
Speaking about the singer-songwriter, whose full name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell, he said: “My daughters are obsessed with Billie Eilish. And what I'm seeing happening with my daughters is the same revolution that happened to me at their age."
“They're becoming themselves through her music. She totally connects to them. So we went to go see her play… and the connection that she has with her audience is the same thing that was happening with Nirvana in 1991.
“I would call that rock n roll. When I look at someone like Billie Eilish, I'm like...shit man....rock n roll is not even close to being dead..."
Last year, Big Dave Grohl appeared onstage at a charity gig with his daughter Violet to perform one of Eilish's songs:
Eilish told Radio X that she was a fan of Grohl and his music, admitting that she got into it through her older brother. She said: “I feel like you hit your rock phase and it doesn’t really go away, cos I’m still into My Chem, Green Day, Nirvana and Foo Fighters and all of them.”
“Dave is such a sweetheart and his daughters, I love them. And they’re so good, because he’s their dad.”
READ MORE: Dave Grohl explains Billie Eilish and Nirvana comparisons
