Billie Eilish Heartbreak: Fame Rendered Her Friendless as She Couldn't Relate To Them Anymore

Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

Billie Eilish expressed that she was distanced from her friends who had been part of her life before fame came knocking upon skyrocketing to international stardom as a young pop sensation.

Making waves in the music industry at the 17 years old with her breakthrough hit "Ocean Eyes" and debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Eilish experienced a massive shift in her social circle.

During a segment of Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver's podcast, Miss Me?, the "Bad Guy" singer candidly addressed questions about being ghosted. This discussion led her to reflect on a time when she initially rose to fame without the support of close companions.

The 22-year-old confessed, "I lost all of my friends when I got famous. Literally all except one. My best friend Zoe who I've been friends with since I was like two. She is still my girl."

"But she's pretty much the only person that remained. I suddenly was famous and I couldn't relate to anybody. It was tough. It was really hard."

When Oliver inquired, Eilish shared that upon returning from tour, she attempted to reach out to certain friends, but received no response.

Reflecting on her efforts, Eilish admitted she tried, but there was a sense of resentment. She even confessed to young and naive at the time.

However, it was during her 20th birthday celebration when she realized that her circle of "friends" were essentially her employees.

"I remember looking around the room and it was only people that I employ," the "Birds of a Feather" singer confessed. "And all 15 years or more older than me. And then, one of my best friends, who worked with me, quit. Out of the blue and didn't talk to me. And it was the worst thing that happened to me."

"I had this realization that 'oh no, I might be actually alone for real,'" Eilish thought. "So since then, I've become very distant in that way from people that I work with and I have a very weird relationship to being friendly with people that I work with because I'm very freaked out by loss and I have a lot of abandonment problems."

Entering into relationships often became Eilish's sole source of companionship. The "Lunch" singer stated that when she found herself in a relationship she wasn't truly invested in, she would cling to it because it felt like her only connection.

"And then I worked really hard on friendship and making friends, and making new friends, and rekindling old friendships and about exactly a year ago, I reconnected with a bunch of old friends and now, I have so many friends."

Eilish also shared how found herself overcome with emotion at the Coachella festival earlier in April 2024.

"We get in the car and my friends were like 'what's going on are you ok?' And I was like totally fine .. And I burst into tears."

"And they said what's going on and I was like, 'Guys, I have friends and I just love you guys so much and it's been so long since I've had friends.' I cried. And it's literally because I actually have friendship now again."

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