Billie Eilish & Lana Del Rey Bonded Over Being Misunderstood

Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey have a lot in common. The two pop queens chatted about their friendship, the music industry, and Eilish’s new album Hit Me Hard and Soft in a sprawling conversation for Interview Magazine’s Summer 2024 issue. Most notably, the singers bonded over their shared experience of growing up in front of the world.

For Eilish, that meant writing about her sexuality for the first time after feeling forced to come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Dec. 2023. (“I like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares,” she wrote in an Instagram post.) And while the 22-year-old confidently sings, “I could eat that girl for lunch / Yeah, she dances on my tongue” on the flirty track “Lunch,” she told Lana that she had mixed feelings about sharing that side of herself.

“It’s so weird to grow up and change in front of the world,” Eilish said. “The craziest part is discovering things about myself and then suddenly, everyone else knows, and I don’t even have a second to think about how it makes me feel.” The “What Was I Made For” singer also seemingly addressed the Variety article she said “outed” her, revealing that by trying to explain herself, she “prematurely [stated] things that [she didn’t] even feel confident or comfortable knowing.”

Similarly, Del Rey related to feeling misunderstood by the public after receiving intense media scrutiny for claiming her family “didn’t have money” growing up. “There was a period of 10 years where I didn’t defend myself, didn’t say anything, and then I started telling my story … and it was instant, horrific backlash,” the A&W singer said. “I got in so much trouble just for writing a song about me watching my boyfriend playing video games that I felt sequestered into wearing a turtleneck for 11 years.”

Thankfully, it sounds like both women have better learned how to navigate their personal and public personas — and they have each other to lean on for support and confidence. In April, Eilish even made a surprise appearance during Del Rey’s Coachella headlining set, treating fans to duet performances of “Ocean Eyes” and “Video Games.” “You know how I felt when I was up there on those tresses [at Coachella,]” Del Rey said. “I was like, ‘Help,’ and you’re like, ‘You don’t need it.’”