When your sister becomes the most applauded female pop artist at age 19, she can boast of being the youngest singer to win the top four Grammys (album, record, song, and breakthrough artist of the year) and earning To position 14 songs at once on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart
the least you can feel is pride.
But if you have been part of all those achievements, it also has to produce satisfaction.
So thinks Finneas O'Connell, the least visible part of Billie Eilish but not the least successful.
At 23 years old, the older brother of the one who is one of the singers of the moment and one of the icons of
generation Z
(those born between the mid-nineties and 2010) consider himself lucky to be able to do what he likes with one of the people he loves most in the world.
It is common to see them together on the red carpets, they share awards because musical works are written and composed by four hands and he is the architect in the shadow of many of the triumphs in the brief but intense career of the young American.
"If I'm writing a song with Billie, I'm just trying to help her tell whatever story she wants to talk about, exchange ideas, listen to her opinions," the producer explained to
Atwood
magazine
in 2018.
Billie Eilish, the singer who triumphs by turning her imperfections into a flag
Billie Eilish in 'The World's a Little Blurry': A teenage girl from Los Angeles shows her songwriting notebook
When the world heard Billie Eilish's song
Bad Guy
, co-written and produced by Finneas, in 2019, music experts spoke that the future of pop was in their hands.
It was the confirmation after the success of
Ocean Eyes
, a song the brothers composed for Billie's dance teacher to create a choreography, which went viral on SoundClound in 2016 and led to their record deal.
But Finneas had made music before and alone: he has 21
singles
and an EP, with his first song,
New Girl
, released in 2016. In addition to his own music and Billie's, he has produced other big pop stars, from Demi. Lovato to Selena Gomez and Camila Cabello.
Now, the also winner of five other Grammy awards, including the best producer of the year in 2020, wants to try his luck alone again and is preparing his debut album, of which he has already released his first single
American Cliché
.
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For a time, Finneas managed to make his first steps in music, with his high school band The Slightlys, and also in acting, although he barely went beyond small roles.
He was a student of Cameron Diaz in
Bad teacher
;
He acted alongside his parents in the family drama
Life inside out
, and has participated in several episodes of
Glee
or
Modern Family
.
Children of singer-songwriter and actress Maggie Baird and musician and actor Patrick O'Connell, the artistic streak of these brothers is abundantly evident.
Complicity in and out of the music is reflected well in
The World's a Little Blurry
(The world is a little fuzzy)
, the film about Billie Eilish RJ Cutler addressed to Apple TV +.
Finneas and Billie grew up together, educated in a world that despite being part of the industry has always been surrounded by love and trust.
And like every older brother, Finneas can't help but be one of Billie's protectors, especially after she got a restraining order in February against a 23-year-old stalker who had been camped out in front of her house since last summer.
"We have a team that we really trust and our parents are around, but because of the amount of people we meet I always try to provide a safe environment for her," the musician recently explained to
The Times
.
“Now he is 19 years old, but he is very young and I, in these years, had to be as protective as possible.
Not in an authoritarian way, but I do make sure that no one is a scoundrel with her ", insisted the one who has composed the song
No time to die
, the soundtrack of the new installment of the James Bond saga that seeks a hole at the Oscars 2022.
Finneas O'Connell now lives in a separate house close to the one his parents own in Los Angeles, and he continues to see his sister very often because their home serves as a study.
"99% of the second album has been produced here," he acknowledged to
The Times
about the new studio work that Billie Eilish is preparing.
With his big blue eyes and messy hair, Finneas has become something of a sex symbol since he made the cover of
GQ
magazine in February 2020
or every time he posts a photo on Instagram for his more than three million followers.
“I don't feel like a sex symbol at all.
However, [Billie and I] make fun of everything.
So when they praise me, I'll be lovingly intimidated.
But yeah, the sex symbol is not on my list of self-definitions.
I have a lazy eye! ”He joked in his interview in
The Times
.
Like his sister, who has spoken openly about suffering from Tourette syndrome or the years in which he has had depression, Finneas also does not hide his problems and has acknowledged on social networks that he goes to therapy.
As a member of a generation that was born with the digital age started, he also uses his platforms to promote his work, praise his family and show the love he feels for his partner, the
influencer
Claudia Sulewski, for whom he has already written a song of the same name. which many of his followers have drawn a great resemblance to his sister.
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