As SNL host, the pop star appeared to have embraced mainstream celebrity. But her musical performances revealed the journey that got her there.
The first time Billie Eilish appeared on Saturday Night Live, the then-17-year-old put her famously green hair in two topknots, donned a graffiti-print outfit, and climbed the walls of a rotating room to underscore her eerie, enigmatic image. She rose to fame creating dark, ASMR electro-pop that distilled the fears of her generation with wry directness. Yet months later, she swept the 2020 Grammys with her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and her rising star turned meteoric. On this weekend’s SNL, pulling double duty as both host and musical guest, the now-19-year-old asserted part of her refashioned identity: that she’s made peace with fame. Whereas Eilish once shied away from the hypervisibility of public life, she’s instead embraced mainstream celebrity—and the branding it so often requires. In the past year, she’s recorded the newest James Bond theme song, dropped her second album, released an Apple TV+ documentary, put on a concert on Disney+, co-chaired the 2021 Met Gala, and prepared to launch a perfume. Eilish’s SNL appearance added to that indefatigable output, offering her an opportunity to act—something she said she used to hate—and lean into the multifaceted nature of modern celebrity. The singer took the opportunity to show off her more playful side. Like Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift before her (all of whom hosted and performed on SNL before they were 20), Eilish used her monologue to poke fun at herself.
