Billie Eilish has spoken out in praise of Greta Thunberg, calling other older generations to take more action against climate change “so we don’t all die”.
Eilish made headlines last month when she performed at the American Music Awards wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘NO MUSIC ON A DEAD PLANET’ – the phrase adopted by the artist collective climate change group, Music Declares Emergency. Other artists involved in the movement include Radiohead, The 1975, The xx, Robyn, Savages and Massive Attack.
Speaking to NME for this week’s Big Read (after her 2019 debut was crowned as our album of the year), Eilish talked about her stance on the environment and young global figurehead Greta Thunberg.
“[Greta Thunberg] is paving the way,” Eilish told. “She’s doing her thing and I feel honoured to be compared to her.”
She continued: “Hopefully the adults and the old people start listening to us [about climate change] so that we don’t all die. Old people are gonna die and don’t really care if we die, but we don’t wanna die yet.”
After The 1975’s Matty Healy hit back at those who accuse the band of hypocrisy for their environmental stance (before the likes of Thom Yorke and David Byrne followed suit in an open letter calling for action), Eilish said that leading by example and spreading the message was what mattered.
“Dude, I always see these posts that are like, ‘Why is this fucking artist saying this shit when they’re taking planes to places?’ Bro, would you rather I just shut the fuck up and say nothing and then no one will ever do anything?,” Eilish told NME. “Yeah, maybe I’m doing something that’s not as perfect as somebody else, but there are things I can’t change.
“So because of those, I want to get the word out to other people. I want to do as much as I can and I want other people to do as much as they can.”
Read our full Big Read with Billie Eilish here.
Having recently made her directorial debut in creating the video for her single ‘Xanny‘, Eilish has been teasing her “experimental” new album as well as an upcoming collaboration with BTS.