Billie Eilish revealed that she will be more vocal about her sexuality on her new album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” which will be released on May 17.
The 22-year-old singer first publicly addressed her attraction to women in her November 2023 cover story with Variety and was asked about coming out while attending the publication’s Hitmakers event. months later.
Now, she’s ready to sing about that attraction on her upcoming LP. During a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, Eilish, the outlet’s latest cover star, talked about a song from her album called “Lunch” that features colorful lyrics.
According to Rolling Stone, the track’s lyrics are about “crushing a girl so hard she compares sex with her to devouring a meal.”
Eilish spoke about the unique writing process for “Lunch” during the interview.
“That song is actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real,” she revealed. “I wrote part of it before I even did anything with a girl, and then I wrote the rest after.”
She continued: “I’ve been into girls my whole life, but I just didn’t understand – until, last year, I realized I wanted my V—– face. “
But the Grammy winner said she had no plans to publicly express her attraction to women last year.
“I never in a million years planned to talk about my sexuality. It’s really frustrating to me that it’s coming up again,” she said, referencing the November 2023 Variety story .
While attending Variety’s Hitmakers event in December, Eilish was asked on the red carpet if she had intended to come out in her Variety cover story.
“No, I didn’t,” Eilish said at the time. “But I thought, ‘Wasn’t that obvious?’ I didn’t realize people didn’t know that.
The singer said she doesn’t “really believe” in the concept of coming out. She added: “I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist’? I’ve been doing this for a long time and I just haven’t talked about it. Oops.
Eilish, who did not qualify her sexuality, said that when she first saw the article, she said, “‘Oh, I guess I came out today!'”
“It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, but it’s cool that they know,” Eilish said. “I’m for the girls.”
The next day, Eilish posted a message to Variety on Instagram, writing in part, “Thank you Variety for my award and also for taking me out on a red carpet at 11 a.m. instead of talking about other things.”
She has also stated that she is attracted to both men and women.
When speaking to Rolling Stone, Eilish had a slightly different take on the situation.
” Who cares ? The whole world suddenly decided who I was, and I couldn’t say anything or control anything,” she said.
She said people can feel like they have to define themselves with labels, but each person has their own journey.
“Man, I’ve known people who didn’t know their sexuality, or didn’t feel comfortable with it, until they were in their 40s, 50s, 60s,” she shared. “It takes time to find yourself, and I think it’s really unfair the way the Internet makes you talk about who you are and what you’re about.”
She said others might have embraced her sexuality, but she only discovered that part of herself recently.
“I’m lucky to be in a time where I’m able to say something like that and everything is going well for me. And that’s not the experience of many people,” she said.
During her interview with Variety in November, Eilish also opened up about how she had assumed for most of her life that women didn’t like her.
“I never really felt like I could get along very well with girls,” she explained. “I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m really attracted to them.
The “Bad Guy” singer explained, “I have deep connections with the women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. »
“I’m physically attracted to them,” Eilish added. “But I’m also very intimidated by them, by their beauty and their presence.”
A month prior, Eilish was also honored at Variety’s Power of Women 2023 event in Los Angeles as a “changemaker” due to her work with her mother Maggie Baird’s organization, Support and Feed .
The singer had muffled visibility during her speech, although she blamed her emotions on taking prednisone, a steroid, to treat an illness. Eilish used her speech as a moment to talk about her feelings when it comes to womanhood.
“It’s really hard being a woman here, guys,” she said. “I never really felt like a woman and I spent a lot of time in my life not feeling like I belonged as a woman, but I think for a few years it was because of that insecurity. “
The singer said she became “pick me” about gender roles when she was younger, which she now regrets, explaining that she would say things like: “Oh, I’m not not like other girls.”
“I became very irritated by this period because I am so much more interested in being like the other girls because the other girls are very tight,” she said. “I love women!”
Although Eilish said she still has “a lot of internalized misogyny” within her, she added: “And I have to say, in full transparency, that I feel very grateful to be a woman right now. »
Eilish is among celebrities in recent years who have spoken candidly about their sexuality, including Miley Cyrus, who has previously spoken in interviews with Elle UK and Variety and about her pansexual identity.
JoJo Siwa, Janelle Monáe and Madison Bailey have also come out as pansexual in recent years, sharing their journeys with fans.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
