BILLIE EILISH YOUNGEST TO WIN 2 OSCARS
FOR HER ‘BARBIE’ BALLAD ‘WHAT WAS I MADE FOR?’
LOS ANGELES – What were Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell made for? Winning awards, apparently. The sibling duo’s “Barbie” blockbuster ballad “What Was I Made For?” won the Academy Award for best original song on Sunday night.
In doing so, Eilish, 22, has become the youngest person by far to have won two career Oscars.
That beats a very old record set by Luise Rainer, who won her second best actress Oscar at 28 in 1938.
The second youngest is now Eilish’s 26-year-old brother and co-writer Finneas. The pair won their first Oscar for “No Time to Die” in 2021. That year, they beat out some impressive names, including Beyoncé, Van Morrison, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Diane Warren.
Hilary Swank and Jodie Foster – a best supporting actor nominee this year – are the only others to win two before 30.
“Thank you so much to the Academy. I feel like, I just didn’t think this would happen,” Eilish started her speech. “I’m so grateful for this song and for this movie and the way that it made me feel. And this goes out to everyone who was affected by the movie and how incredible it is. And I want to thank my team and my parents. I love you guys so much.”
She continued, “I want to thank my best friend Zoe for playing Barbies with me growing up, and being by my side forever,” and was met with laughs from the audience. “I want to thank my, like, dance teachers growing up. I want to thank my choir teachers. Miss Brigham, thanks for believing in me. Mrs. T, you didn’t like me, but you were good at your job.”
Eilish and Finneas beat out another “Barbie” cut, “I’m Just Ken,” as performed by Ryan Gosling and written by “Barbie the Album” executive producer Mark Ronson and his creative partner Andrew Wyatt. Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson’s “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony,” Warren’s “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot” and Scott George’s “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My
People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon” rounded out the category.
Eilish and O’Connell are no strangers to the Oscar stage. In addition to t aking home the trophy for their James Bond them “No Time to Die,” they performed during the in memorium segment in 2020.
In the months leading up to the Academy Awards, “What Was I Made For?” has raked in numerous trophies: In 2024 alone, they’ve won a Golden Globe for best original song and two Grammys. Not bad for a song written about an 11.5-inch-tall plastic doll.
“What Was I Made For?” debuted at No. 34 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, eventually peaking at No. 14.
In the “Barbie” film, “What Was I Made For?” plays a key role – an instrumental version of the song pops up like a leitmotif, soundtracking introspective, existential moments for its protagonist. Eilish’s voice isn’t heard until the final scene, but at that point, the audience is well-prepared for its emotional impact.
Clearly, the duo excel at making music for movies. Before “Barbie” and Bond, three songs they wrote made it on Disney’s “Turning Red” soundtrack, pulling heavily from the likes of (asterisk) NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
In another music category, Ludwig Göransson won the Academy Award for original score for his work on “Oppenheimer.” It is his second Oscar and third nomination, having previously won in the category in 2019 for “Black Panther.” /