As two of the biggest names in pop, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo could have a major rivalry, but instead, they’ve developed a supportive friendship.
“I think everybody’s experiences are so individual,” Eilish, 21, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times published on Tuesday, November 14. “Nobody has had anybody else’s life, you know? But I do feel a protectiveness over Olivia.”
Eilish went on to confess that she even drew inspiration from Rodrigo, 20, for a song on her 2021 album, Happier Than Ever.
“I have a song called ‘Goldwing’ from my last album that’s kind of about her,” Eilish shared. “I’ve never said that to anyone. It’s not only about her. I was just thinking about her when I was writing it. She was coming up, and she was younger than me, and nobody had ever been younger than me.”
In “Goldwing,” Eilish included lines from a hymn she sang as a child in the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus: “They’re gonna tell you what you want to hear / Then they’re gonna disappear / Gonna claim you like a souvenir / Just to sell you in a year.”
“Olivia was getting big, and she was just, like, this little dainty child,” Eilish said. “I felt so nervous. I was worried about her. She came up in that acting world, and people are so weird. I don’t know — I just felt very protective over her. And I feel that way to everyone.”
Eilish went on to note that she feels the same way about Ariana Greenblatt, who played Sasha, the daughter of America Ferrera’s character, in Barbie. “She’s 16, and I literally want to cry about her sometimes,” Eilish confessed.
“I just see myself in all these young girls,” she continued. “And it’s the girls, man. Boys can handle themselves. They’re dudes — they don’t have to deal with it like we do. I just want to hold everybody in a little glass box and never let anything touch them.”
Rodrigo seemingly also feels a kinship to Eilish, telling The Guardian in September that Eilish is “really sweet and supportive.” Rodrigo also confessed in 2021 that Eilish is her beauty inspiration.
“I just like to keep it really natural and glowy, like Billie Eilish’s makeup,” the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star explained in a Vogue video. “She always just looks like she’s glowing and perfect.”
