Billie Eilish revealed she will open up more about her sexuality on her new album, "Hit Me Hard and Soft," out May 17.
The 22-year-old singer first publicly discussed being attracted to women in her November 2023 cover story with Variety and was asked about coming out while attending the publication's Hitmakers event a month later.
Now, she is ready to sing about acting on that attraction on her upcoming LP. In a recent chat with Rolling Stone, Eilish, the outlet's latest cover star, talked about a song on her album called "Lunch" that features some colorful lyrics.
According to Rolling Stone, the lyrics for the track are about "crushing on a girl so hard she likens sex with her to devouring a meal."
Eilish spoke about the unique songwriting process for "Lunch" during the interview.
"That song was actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real,” she revealed. "I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after."
She continued, "I’ve been in love with girls for my whole life, but I just didn’t understand — until, last year, I realized I wanted my face in a v-----."
But the Grammy-winner said that she did not intend to publicly address her attraction to women last year.
"I was never planning on talking about my sexuality ever, in a million years. It’s really frustrating to me that it came up," she said, referencing the November 2023 Variety story.
While attending the Variety’s Hitmakers event in December, Eilish was asked on the red carpet if she had intended to come out in her Variety cover story.
“No, I didn't,” Eilish said at the time. “But I kind of thought ‘Wasn’t it obvious?’ I didn’t realize people didn’t know.”
The singer said she didn't “really believe in” the concept of coming out. She added, “I’m just like, ‘Why can’t we just exist’? I’ve been doing this for a long time and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.”
Eilish, who hasn’t labeled her sexuality, said when she saw the article initially she said, “‘Oh, I guess I came out today!’”
“It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, but it’s cool that they know,” Eilish said. “I am for the girls.”
The next day, Eilish posted a message to Variety on Instagram, writing in part, "Thanks variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else."
She also said she is attracted to both men and women.
When speaking to Rolling Stone, Eilish had a slightly different view on the situation.
“Who f---ing cares? The whole world suddenly decided who I was, and I didn’t get to say anything or control any of it," she said.
She said that people can feel compelled to define themselves with labels, but each person has their own journey.
"Dude, I’ve known people that don’t know their sexuality, or feel comfortable with it, until they’re in their 40s, 50s, 60s," she shared. "It takes a while to find yourself, and I think it’s really unfair, the way that the internet bullies you into talking about who you are and what you are.”
She said others might've assumed her sexuality, but she only discovered that part of herself recently.
“I’m lucky enough to be in a time when I’m able to say something like that and things go OK for me. And that’s not how a lot of people’s experience is," she pointed out.
During her November interview with Variety, Eilish also discussed how she assumed for most of her life that women didn’t like her.
“I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well,” she explained. “I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real.”
The “Bad Guy” singer explained, “I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life.”
“I’m physically attracted to them,” Eilish added. “But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
A month prior, Eilish was also honored at Variety’s 2023 Power of Women event in Los Angeles as a “changemaker” due to her work with her mom Maggie Baird’s organization, Support and Feed.
The singer was visibility choked up during her speech, though she blamed her emotions as a result of taking the steroid prednisone to treat an illness. Eilish used her speech as a moment to open up about her feelings womanhood.
“It’s really hard to be a woman out here, guys,” she said. “I have never felt truly like a woman and I’ve spent a lot of way of life not feeling like I fit in to being a woman but I think for a couple years because of that insecurity.”
The singer said that she became “pick me” about gender roles when she was younger, which she now regrets, explaining that she would say things along the lines of, “Oh, I’m not like other girls.”
“I’ve grown to be very resentful of that period of time because I’m so much more interested in being like other girls because other girls are f---ing tight,” she said. “I love women!”
Though Eilish said she still has “a lot of internalized misogyny” inside of her, she added, “And I have to say, with like full transparency, I feel very grateful to be a woman right now.”
Eilish is among the celebrities in recent years who have been candid about their sexuality, including Miley Cyrus, who has previously spoken in interviews with Elle UK and Variety and about coming out as pansexual.
JoJo Siwa, Janelle Monáe, and Madison Bailey have also come out as pansexual in recent years, sharing their journeys with fans.