Dave Grohl has praised Billie Eilish, calling her an authentic rock star who incites the same kind of devoted fandom as Nirvana.
Speaking to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino for a one-on-one discussion at PollstarLive’s conference on Tuesday (February 12), Grohl spoke highly of Eilish whom he’d seen live in concert. “I went to go see Billy Eilish not too long ago. Oh my god man. Unbelievable. My daughters are obsessed with [her].”
But the Foos frontman was today (February 14) moved to share part of the transcript of his conversation from the convention, saying that “lazy paraphrasing” in the music press had missed his point.
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “For a VARIETY of reasons, and out of respect for Billie Eilish, I’d like to share the transcript of what I actually said at the Pollstar convention the other day, rather than some lazy paraphrasing that completely misses the point….ahem….”
He then posts part of the transcript, which you can read below.
One section reads: “And what I’m seeing happening with my daughters is the same revolution that happened to me at their age. My daughters are listening to Billie Eilish and they’re becoming themselves through her music. She totally connects to them. So we went to go see her play at the Wiltern, and the connection that she has with her audience is the same thing that was happening with Nirvana in 1991. The people in the audience knew every word. And it was like our little secret.”
Elsewhere in the discussion (although not printed above in Grohl’s post) the ex-Nirvana drummer admitted to feeling out of touch with today’s music technology. “A lot of the changes in music I don’t understand,” he said. “I don’t know the difference between Pandora and Spotify. I don’t get it. I don’t have the app. Sorry.”
Billie Eilish’s debut LP, titled ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ is set to be released next month, following her critically acclaimed debut ‘Don’t Smile At Me’ EP and a string of standalone singles.
The 17-year-old Canadian artist performed ‘Bury A Friend’ and ‘When I Was Older’ live for the first time earlier this week. She performed at Kesselhaus in Berlin, treating an enthusiastic crowd to her latest stage production.
The star, who appeared in the NME 100 of essential new artists for 2019, will hit the UK for tour dates at the end of this month.
Billie Eilish’s upcoming UK headline tour dates are below.
FEBRUARY
Wednesday 27 – MANCHESTER Manchester Academy
Thursday 28 – GLASGOW SWG3
MARCH
Saturday 2 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
Monday 4 – LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Tuesday 5 – LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Wednesday 6 – LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire