Billie Eilish’s song that made Bono (U2) stop the car

As a music listener, Bono He’s an eclectic guy. Not just in musical styles, but also in eras. The vocalist of U2 He has already given public praise to several artists younger than him, showing how he seeks to be in tune and up to date with what is going on.

One of the people honored was Billie Eilish. The young singer stood out in the world of music very early, in fact. When she released her first albumWhen We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?,as of 2019, she is just 17 years old. Even so, she managed to present a different sound, combining pop music with several other influences.

A song made available by her during this period — more specifically as a bonus track on the aforementioned album — left Bono simply delighted. It got to the point where the U2 frontman stopped the car in such amazement. It was “Everything I Wanted”a composition heavily influenced by house music, electronic and alternative pop.

In 2020, Bono completed its 60th anniversary. It was the beginning of the pandemic and the star, who had traveled the world so much in recent decades, found himself stuck at home. So, he took advantage of his free time to list 60 songs that impacted him in some way. There are several icons from the past, from Beatles to Sex Pistolsbut the Irish musician also praised more current names — such as Eilish and the aforementioned song.

When mentioning “Everything I Wanted” (via Far Out Magazine), he commented:

“‘Everything I Wanted’ by Billie Eilish… when I heard that, I even had to stop the car.”

In a more in-depth reflection regarding the composition, Bono commented:

“My ears long for these empty spaces to roam… to escape the density of digital surfaces with too much information. I walk into your music and it’s a dark beauty, achingly vulnerable and terrifying, fearless and worrying… but you’re not worried about all that. You express this so you can accept the feeling that bothers you. I think about Carole KingI think about Roy Orbison. But just like them, it never existed before you.”

Bono and Billie Eilish’s confusion

Bono is a big fan of Billie Eilish, but the converse is not exactly true. The young singer revealed in an interview with the podcast The Office Ladies — inspired by the series The Office — that a joke made in an episode of the work made her think that the U2 was a band Scranton, city in the state of Pennsylvania. Anyone who knows the group at all knows its Irish origins, including the direct mentions of the country’s historical events in some compositions. Billie account:

“We went to Ireland. I’m at my hotel and I receive flowers in my room. There is a very kind little letter signed by Bono. It said, among other things: ‘Welcome to my hometown. I thought, ‘Why would he send me something in Ireland? What does this have to do with him? Because the U2 it’s from Scranton‘. I kept asking everyone, ‘What Bono Are you doing sending me flowers from another part of the world? Why would he do that?’. Then they told me: ‘Billie, what are you talking about? They’re Irish!’.”

The joke that confused Eilish was made in the fourth season of The Officemore specifically in the episode Goodbye Toby Part 1. The character Michael Scott (Steve Carell) asked Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) if the U2 was from Scranton. Halpert then responded positively, but with a habitual expression of irony.