Billie Eilish was honored to receive the 2024 Oscar statuette in the category of “Best Original Song”. This is the second time the 22-year-old singer has received this award.
With the ballad “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” Eilish, 22, and O’Connell, 26, became the youngest and second-youngest people to win an Oscar, respectively. The pop duo just took home the Grammy for song of the year for their melancholy hit “Barbie” last month.
Two years ago, the siblings won their first Oscar for the James Bond theme song “No Time to Die.” Billie Eilish is also the first woman to win the top three awards (Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe) twice.
Previously, the record for youngest person to ever win two Oscars belonged to actress Luise Rainer, who was 28 when she won her second best actress award in 1938 for her role in the drama “The Good Earth,” after winning the same award the year before for “The Great Ziegfeld.”
Accepting the award, Eilish said: “I dreamed about this last night,” before laughing. “I feel incredibly lucky and honored.” She also shouted out to a former music teacher: “You don’t like me but you did great.”
Eilish is already among the youngest Oscar winners ever. In the original song category, the record still belongs to Czech singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová, who was just 19 when she won the award for the ballad “Falling Slowly” from the film “Once.”
Only a handful of people have won two Oscars by the age of 30. Jodie Foster achieved the feat at age 29 with her second win for Best Actress for her role in “The Silence of the Lambs.” Hilary Swank also achieved the feat at age 30, with her second win in the category for “Million Dollar Baby.”
To win Best Original Song, Eilish and O’Connell beat out another nominee from “Barbie” — “I’m Just Ken” — along with “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot” and “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony.”