An emotional Billie Eilish broke down at the 2020 BRIT Awards on Tuesday evening after admitting social media trolls had made her ‘feel hated.’
The American star claimed the award for Best International Female Artist from Spice Girl Mel C, just moments after performing new James Bond theme No Time To Die live for the first time.
Addressing fans at London’s O2 Arena, a visibly moved Billie told the star-studded audience: ‘I wanted to say something that I was thinking like two seconds ago… I’ve felt very hated recently.
Moving: An emotional Billie Eilish broke down at the 2020 BRIT Awards on Tuesday evening after admitting social media trolls had made her ‘feel hated’
Struggling to compose herself, she added: ‘And when I was on the stage and I saw you guys smiling at me, it genuinely made me want to cry, and I want to cry right now, so thank you.’
Billie’s triumph comes after she discussed her recent decision to take a step back from social media, and specifically stop reading the comments on her Instagram posts.
She told BBC Breakfast: ‘I stopped like two days ago. I’ve stopped reading comments fully. It was ruining my life. It’s weird. The cooler the things you get to do, the more people hate you.
Tearful: Addressing fans at London’s O2 Arena, a visibly moved Billie told the star-studded audience, ‘I wanted to say something that I was thinking like two seconds ago… I’ve felt very hated recently’
Opening up: ‘And when I was on the stage and I saw you guys smiling at me, it genuinely made me want to cry, and I want to cry right now, so thank you,’ she added
‘Cancel culture is insane. The internet is a bunch of trolls and the problem is a lot of it is really funny. It’s anything for a joke. People say anything to make people laugh.’
‘It’s insane that I have ever been reading comments. I should’ve stopped long ago but the problem is I’ve always wanted to stay in touch with my fans and people have ruined that for me and for them. That sucks.’
‘I still try to like fan posts. If I see fans anywhere I just want to talk to them. They’re people, they’re me. They’re like friends of mine, but the internet is ruining my life, so I turned it off.’
Stirring: Moments earlier Billie performed new James Bond theme No Time To Die live for the first time
Ahead of her BRITs performance, the Grammy-Award winning singer/songwriter revealed all about the creative process behind the track.
Billie sat down with her producer and co-writer brother Finneas O’Connell, telling BBC presenter Louise Minchin that Bond himself had to approve their track No Time To Die.
Finneas explained that Bond star Daniel Craig is involved in every aspect of their movie franchise, including the theme song.
Record breaker: Billie made history by becoming the youngest person ever to record a Bond soundtrack
Opening up: Billie’s triumph comes after she discussed her recent decision to take a step back from social media, and specifically stop reading the comments on her Instagram posts
‘He had to like it. If Daniel doesn’t like it then you don’t get the job,’ he said while Billie added: ‘He has a big say in it. We learned that from this. He’s really involved. We haven’t met him but he’s got to like it before they move on.’
The duo wrote the song for the 25th Bond movie on a tour bus in Texas over just three days, after failing to get the creative juices flowing in the studio.
‘We’ve been wanting to make a Bond song for years. I remember at the beginning of last year we told our whole team that if any Bond things come up we want to be involved if we can possibly be,’ Billie revealed of her long-held ambition.
Finneas agreed, explaining: ‘There are few things as desirable as doing a Bond song and we didn’t take the opportunity lightly. We really just tried to work as hard as we could to prove ourselves worthy of that.’
Billie will perform the track live at Tuesday night’s star-studded BRIT Awards at London’s O2, and the seasoned performer admitted: ‘I’m so scared. We’ve never performed it ever, so it feels so weird that it’s in the public, especially now that I’m performing it and I’m hitting a note I’ve never hit before. I’m scared.’
Chat: Billie sat down with her producer and co-writer brother Finneas O’Connell on Monday, telling Louise Minchin that Daniel Craig had to approve their track No Time To Die
Taking charge: Finneas explained that Bond star Daniel Craig is involved in every aspect of their movie franchise, including the theme song