Her Own Style
Billie Eilish’s green hair and long nails make her stand out. “I like to be in control of how I look,” she says.

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Young & Famous

Meet two musicians who have created their own paths to stardom

October 2020

by Tod Olson

depression

a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad and hopeless

Sometimes my depression makes it hard for me to get out of the house.

photo credit: SolStock/Getty

melody

a series of musical notes that forms the main part of a song

I love Ariana Grande’s new song—the melody is so catchy!

photo credit: Cookie Studio/Shutterstock

distractions

things that make it difficult to think or pay attention

I turn off my phone while I’m doing homework to avoid distractions.

photo credit: Solphoto/istock/Getty

suburbs

a town or other area where people live in houses near a larger city

Rita prefers living in the suburbs because it’s quieter than the city.

photo credit: Kusska/Shutterstock

Billie Eilish

How she’s changing what it means to be a pop star

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Most pop stars can point to a single moment when their career starts to happen. For Billie Eilish, that moment came when she was just 13.

Her older brother, Finneas, had written a song called “Ocean Eyes.” He recorded her singing it and posted it online. All Eilish wanted was to share the song with her dance teacher.

But by the next morning, the song had gone viral. In a few days, people all over the world had heard it. Record companies were calling. And she was on her way to becoming a massive star.

Free to Play

It might seem like Eilish got famous overnight. But she had been preparing to be a musician for years.

Her parents wanted their kids to be creative. So Eilish and her brother were homeschooled. The rules of the house left plenty of time for art. If they were playing music, there was no bedtime.

Eilish used that freedom to focus on what she loved. She wrote her first song at age 4. At 7, she performed a Beatles tune in a talent show. The next year, she joined the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. Later, she started writing music with Finneas.

In Control

After “Ocean Eyes” became a hit, Eilish signed with a record company. But she didn’t become a star right away. She just kept making music. By the time she was 16, her songs had been played more than 1 billion times on Spotify. Finally, in August 2019, she got her first No. 1 hit.

That was fine with Eilish, who’s now 18. She’s always wanted to do things her own way. Even as a big star, she stays true to herself—and her fans respect her for it. She wears baggy clothes because they’re comfortable. She dyes her hair blue, silver, or green. She still records her songs at home with her brother.

Eilish also isn’t afraid to talk about important issues. She has warned people to take the coronavirus seriously. She has spoken out against racism. And she’s talked about her own struggles with depression.

But this young pop star didn’t set out to be a role model—or a rebel. She just wants to make music. And luckily, millions of people want to listen.

Lil Nas X

How he made his wildest dreams come true

In the fall of 2018, 19-year-old Montero Hill was bored. He was sleeping on his sister’s floor in Atlanta. He had almost no money and very little experience as a musician. But he decided to write a song—and designed it to go viral.

Country music is popular, so he chose a cowboy theme. He bought a catchy hip-hop beat online for $30. He wrote a simple melody. Then he made 100 short videos to go with the song. In December, he posted them again and again on social media.

By March 2019, Hill was in New York City signing a record deal. His song—“Old Town Road”—went to No. 1 on the charts. It stayed there for 19 weeks, longer than any other song in history. And Hill became known by a different name: Lil Nas X.

Growing Up

Jason Moore/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Stock Photo; Robby Klein/Contour by Getty Images for The Recording Academy

When Lil Nas X was little, he wanted to be an entertainer. But his childhood was full of distractions.

His parents split up when he was 6. For three years, he lived in Atlanta. In his neighborhood, gang violence was hard to avoid. He knew plenty of kids who had seen people get killed.

At 9, he moved to the suburbs to live with his father. He learned to play trumpet and got pretty good. But he gave it up in high school because he was afraid it wasn’t cool.

Lil Nas X kept to himself as a teen. But he still wanted to be a star. He spent a lot of time online. He posted jokes and funny pictures on Twitter. He attracted 20,000 followers. When they heard “Old Town Road,” those followers helped make Lil Nas X famous.

Coming Out

So far, Lil Nas X has made the most of his fame. He has his own line of Western clothing. He’s in a Doritos commercial. He even sang a duet with the Sesame Street character Elmo.

But in many ways, Lil Nas X is not your typical pop star. Last June, he decided to come out as a gay man. That makes him one of the few openly gay hip-hop artists. He’s also one of the few Black musicians with a country hit.

Lil Nas X is living his dream. But his rise to stardom happened so fast that he’s still getting used to it. “On the outside, everybody loves you,” he told Variety magazine. “But on the inside, everything [feels] the same.”