In April 2019, Billie Eilish became the first artist born in the 2000s to have a number one record on the Billboard charts. It’s an oddly specific fact, but it illustrates something that older gatekeepers see when they look at the 18-year-old pop phenomenon: She’s simply from another generation.
On Sunday night, during a ceremony that seesawed between the frisson of the new, the weight of grief, and the vestiges of the past, the Grammy Awards sided with the youth. Eilish won all four major categories: best new artist, record of the year, song of the year, and album of the year, along with the award for best pop vocal album.
Sweeps like this are rare, but not unheard of in Grammys history, and they’ve previously come at the precipice of great change in the industry. In 2009, 2012, and 2017, Adele went home with armfuls of the gilded gramophones, around the same time that she became one of the few pop stars to actually move physical albums. The last person to achieve a similar sweep to Eilish’s was Norah Jones, who won best new artist, record of the year, and album of the year back in 2003. (Her song “Don’t Know Why” also won song of the year, but the award went to Jesse Harris, who wrote it.) In 1981, Christopher Cross became the first person to do what Eilish did last night. His 1979 self-titled debut won album of the year, his smooth hit single “Sailing” walked away with record and song of the year, and he won best new artist.
These comparisons might seem a little foreboding for Eilish. Jones, who put out her most well-known records on legacy jazz label Blue Note Records, has always had a slightly niche career. Though her records are well-regarded, she hasn’t had a single on the Hot 100 since 2006’s “Thinking About You” peaked at number 82. Cross, on the other hand, never won another Grammy in any category after his 1981 sweep, and soon his career suffered from what some have termed the MTV effect. In the era of music videos and charismatic rock performers, the reigning aesthetic swung away from Cross’s brand of musicianship-focused adult contemporary faster than you can say “yacht rock.”
There’s always a danger in coronating a young person, but by embracing Eilish, the Grammys are inching away from their tendency to view youth music exclusively on the terms of an older generation. Sure, the songs she writes with her brother, Finneas O’Connell, who was also named non-classical producer of the year Sunday night, are fairly traditional in structure and melodic approach, and their tender acoustic performances can make them seem like a latter-day version of the Carpenters. But the music on her album is sonically bold, filled with samples and ASMR noises that feel more inspired by Radiohead than the Great American Songbook.
Importantly, Eilish has legitimate support among fans her own age. Over the four years it took to progress from first her SoundCloud hit to the debut album, Eilish’s team focused as much on growing her following on Instagram (now 50 million strong) as they did on consulting with tastemakers. Signed to Darkroom, a subsidiary of Interscope, Eilish has seen plenty of support from the traditional music industry. But Apple Music, which the Spotify-aligned majors see as a threat, was also an early and committed booster of Eilish, helping launch her album to the top of the charts when it was released last spring.