This interview just keeps getting better every year.
A lot can change in the span of a year. For example, I’m willing to bet none of us thought we’d all be stuck inside for pretty much the entire duration of 2020. Times change, situations develop, people grow. While a year is only 365 days, it’s always rather sobering to look back on the kind of person you were 365 days ago, which is probably why Billie Eilish has been making a yearly habit of it.
Every year, Billie Eilish is interviewed by Vanity Fair in the exact same manner. Same general timeframe, same questions, and she even gets to react to the answers she gave the year prior. It’s a source of both good natured laughs and solemn moments for her as she reminisces on years past and posits on the present.
“The most important thing right now probably would be maintaining my happiness, which I’ve been experiencing for the first time in many years lately, which is pretty cool,” Eilish said when she was asked last year about what’s most important to her. “And not that my fans aren’t like… also the other most important thing in the world. And doing shows is most important to me, and doing crazy shows especially, but I want to stay happy. That’s a big goal for me.”
After seeing that old answer, Eilish laughed for a moment, then reiterated that her emotions at the time were entirely genuine. However, she then thought more about what the pandemic has changed about her life. “It’s so weird what we take for granted. I would never have thought that I wouldn’t be able to do shows one day. So much time spent; me, dreading tour, dreading press, dreading this, dreading that, and like, I had no idea that I was dreading something that I would one day not even be legally allowed to do.”
When asked once again about what was most important to her, Eilish gave a more concise answer that last year: “Keeping my family safe and, y’know, staying up. There isn’t much else to do right now.”