Billie Eilish is opening up about the cost of fame.
The “Lunch” singer, 22, says she lost “all of my friends” after becoming famous at age 14.
“Well, I lost all of my friends when I got famous,” Eilish said on the Monday, June 10, episode of the BBC’s “Miss Me?” podcast hosted by singer Lily Allen and British TV personality Miquita Oliver. “I suddenly was famous and I couldn’t relate to anybody. It was tough. It was really hard.”
The Grammy winner said only one pal, her best friend Zoe, stuck by her after she hit it big with the song “Ocean Eyes” in 2016. By the time she turned 20, Eilish was mostly surrounded by people who worked for her.
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“And then it was my 20th birthday and I remember looking around the room and it was only people that I employ. And all 15 years or more older than me,” the singer recalled.
Eilish said she struggled when one of her employees quit their job and stopped speaking to her. “It was the worst thing that happened to me. And that made me realize like, ‘Oh wait, this is a job.’ If they left me, they would never see me again,” she added.
As a result of her friendship struggles in the past, the “What Was I Made For?” singer now has difficulty being friends with people she works with.
“I’m very freaked out by loss and I have a lot of abandonment problems,” she explained.
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However, in happier news, the singer said she has made a concerted effort to get back in touch with old friends and make new ones.
“Exactly a year ago, I reconnected with a bunch of old friends and now, I have so many friends,” she said. “I have a crew now. I could literally cry about it. It’s been the greatest thing that’s happened to me.”
The singer added that she recently went to a Coachella party with her friends and was overcome with emotion.
“I was like, ‘Guys, I have friends and I just love you guys so much, and it’s been so long since I’ve had friends.’ I cried… and it’s literally because I actually have friendship now again,” said the Oscar winner.
