meta-scriptBillie Eilish's Road To 'Happier Than Ever': How The Superstar Continues To Break Pop's Status Quo | GRAMMY.com
Billie Eilish's Road To 'Happier Than Ever': How The Superstar Continues To Break Pop's Status Quo

Billie Eilish

Photo: Kelia Anne MacCluskey

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Billie Eilish's Road To 'Happier Than Ever': How The Superstar Continues To Break Pop's Status Quo

With her revealing second album 'Happier Than Ever', Billie Eilish takes control of the narrative, following a year of misogyny, stalkers and toxic relationships

GRAMMYs/Aug 3, 2021 - 07:26 pm

It's daunting how quickly life can change in just two years. While most teenagers were spending sleepless nights studying for the SATs or picking out prom dresses, Billie Eilish had an opposite adolescence. The Los Angeles native went from plucking a ukulele in her bedroom to skyrocketing into one of this generation's most lauded artists, selling out arenas and collecting trophies with apparent nonchalance and ease.

It all began in 2016 when a 13-year-old Eilish uploaded "Ocean Eyes" to SoundCloud, which was written and produced by her brother, collaborator and confidant FINNEAS. The haunting ballad was meant to be a recording that Eilish's dance teacher could choreograph to, but turned Eilish into an overnight sensation (the song now has nearly 50 million SoundCloud streams) that led to an Interscope record deal.

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From there, Eilish dropped her 2017 debut EP Don't Smile at Me and followed up with 2019's monstrous, Billboard 200 chart-topping debut album: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. Drawing inspiration from Eilish's nightmares and bouts with depression, it captured an intimacy that could only be born out of FINNEAS' bedroom studio. 

Now, the pair has managed to double down on that vulnerability with Eilish's second album Happier Than Ever. Released on July 30, the album documents how she's coped with not only the demanding music industry but stalkers, toxic relationships and the misogyny that powers them both.

"There's so much pressure and so much expectation, and it's so public," FINNEAS told Billboard in 2019. "It's amazing that anyone has navigated it, especially someone as young as Billie." Eilish, who was preparing for her debut Coachella performance at the time, echoed it: "I'm in the good old days right now. Who knows if this is my peak and then I die or some s***? Or my career dies and I go away and no one cares. Or it gets crazier."

Her career trajectory has definitely gotten crazier. Following the release of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Eilish became award season's golden child. She did an impressive clean sweep at the 2020 GRAMMY Awards, winning five of her six nominations while breaking age and gender-defying records throughout the night. 

Eilish was the second artist in GRAMMY history (following Christopher Cross in 1981) and the first woman to take home the Big Four awards: Album of the Year (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?), Record and Song of the Year ("Bad Guy") and Best New Artist. The singer also won Best Pop Vocal Album. Then 18 years old, she was the youngest-ever winner for all categories in the Big Four. FINNEAS, then 22, also won big with Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (the youngest to do so) and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

The snowball effect continued at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards, where 2019's "Everything I Wanted" single once again won Record of the Year. She also scored Best Song Written For Visual Media for her Bond theme song "No Time To Die," from the film of the same name.

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Eilish was heavily decorated before her 20th birthday. And as with every artist who experiences immediate ascension—from the conservatorship-controlled Britney Spears to Eilish's own idol Justin Bieber—daggers from naysayers and trolls will be thrown. It became more evident that the pressure was getting to Eilish, who's never shied from detailing every angle of her emotions.

On "Everything I Wanted," she summates how her brother helps her handle the internal pressures. The song was inspired by an unnerving nightmare where she committed suicide and no one—from family to dedicated fans—cared. Ultimately, it's the launching pad for Happier Than Ever. Here, in all her newly blonde glory (as seen on the Old Hollywood-inspired artwork), Eilish emerges from the cloudiness that engulfed When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? while navigating the trauma she's experienced since the album's release.

Happier Than Ever feels like a heavy sigh, with Eilish sounding completely overwhelmed on nearly every song. Gone are the dentist drill effects, "Duh!" eyerolls or The Office sound bites that outlined the kooky teen angst of her debut. Happier Than Ever is both stronger and more subdued. The singer gives listeners just enough to be satisfied, almost as if to cheekily dump it all on us post-success: "Here's what you a**holes wanted!"

But Eilish is smarter than that, and the thoughtfulness she put behind the album's curation is evident. "I wanted to make a very timeless record. That wasn't just timeless in terms of what other people thought, but really just timeless for myself," she explained in a Vevo interview last month. "I gathered a lot of inspiration from a lot of older artists that I grew up loving. Mostly Julie London, and a lot of Frank SinatraPeggy Lee."

Billie Eilish. Photo: Kelia Anne MacCluskey​

The result is a jazzy 16-track confessional where she comes out of the other side with a more mature mindset. It's almost heartbreaking how quickly Eilish had to grow up. "Things I once enjoyed just keep me employed now," she grieves on the "Getting Older" opener, which might inspire waves of relatability for millennials forced to realize their youth has slipped away.

But the album still has sprinklings of that deadpan "zero f***s given" attitude—and most of it is targeted at a deadbeat ex-flame. The swagged-out "I Didn't Change My Number" nods to her debut album's wild sound effects, opening with what sounds like the growl of Eilish's pitbull, Shark"Lost Cause" also knocks down her ex's ego, condemning him as a jobless fool who couldn't even bother gifting her flowers. And that "Get my pretty name out of your mouth" line on her "Therefore I Am" single is heavenly sarcasm.

That said, misogyny's shackles have a tight hold on Happier Than Ever, as Eilish unravels the consequences of fame that more women are speaking up about. The spoken word "Not My Responsibility" debuted during the singer's March 2020 Where Do We Go? World Tour before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled it. It's a candid look at how society places women's bodies under a microscope and subjects them to unwarranted opinions. "The body I was born with / Is it not what you wanted?" she presses.

Eilish's curves—which she opts to cover with oversized clothing—were picked apart once the paparazzi caught her sporting a form-fitting top last fall. She later gave social media's body shamers the middle finger with her seductive British Vogue photoshoot. But naturally, as heard on "Overheated," she hasn't fully shaken off those thoughts. "And everybody said it was a letdown, I was only built like everybody else now," she half-raps over FINNEAS' chilling, futuristic production. "But I didn't get surgery to help out."

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Happier Than Ever also touches on more frightening themes, with "NDA" targeting Eilish's stalker. One of the few tracks that revisit the unnerving sonics that made critics brand her a pop prodigy, it's filled with plucky synths and distorted vocals reminiscent of Madonna's Music deep cut "Nobody's Perfect."

"I really don't like to be alone. I do like having anonymity, or autonomy, but I really am flipped out when I'm alone. I hate it," Eilish told The Guardian. "I have a lot of stalkers and I have people that want to do bad things to me. I also am freaked out by the dark and what's under beds and couches. I have a lot of weird, irrational fears. So I'm still at my parents' house a lot. I just love my parents and really like it here. It's very comforting."

That feeling of comfort is nonexistent on "Your Power," which spotlights abusive and predatory men. The stripped ballad, with Eilish's signature low decibel barely rising above a murmur, is devastating: "But you ruined her in a year, don't act like it was hard / And you swear you didn't know / No wonder why you didn't ask / She was sleepin' in your clothes but now she's got to get to class."

But the album's heaviness is balanced with a healthy dose of horniness, indicative of just how grown Eilish is becoming. "Billie Bossa Nova" is a sensual, hip-swaying tale of keeping her secret lover's identity hidden as they make love in a hotel room. 

And "Oxytocin" (titled after the "love hormone") can travel two ways: a head rush in a '90s London rave surrounded by sweat and hot beer breath, or a designer drug-fueled Crystal Castles concert in the mid-'00s. But Eilish's feral screams ("YOU SHOULD REALLY RUN AWAY!") are all her own.

"There was flashing in my head when we made that. The color of whatever was in my brain while making it was dark, but also a flashing yellow," she told The Guardian of the track, which was birthed from her synaesthesia. "Honestly, the images I have for 'Oxytocin' were just sex. That's it. All different kinds and styles and colors and locations. That's really what was in my head. Sex."

Eilish's artistic prowess is best captured on the album's title track. Beginning with those familiar, dreamy ukulele plucks from her debut days, the second half is an electric guitar-ripping rock shocker. It's a raw therapy session as she gets over a shady ex: "I don't relate to you 'cause I'd never treat me this s***y / You made me hate this city."

About the title track, "Do you ever want to say something to somebody for a really long time? You don't really know what you want to say or how to say it," she explained to NPR. "Then maybe you have a conversation with somebody else, or you think a little bit about it, and you figure out what it is you've been trying to say for this entire period of time? That's how it felt: That was the entire writing process, that was the recording process. Everything involved in this song felt like how it feels when you finally find the words for something."

The singer, well known for her controlled soprano whispers, breaks her own boundary on "Happier Than Ever," allowing her voice to get loud, ugly and angry. It's the album's least restrained moment and the most relatable form of catharsis.

"I'm in love with my future / Can't wait to meet her," Eilish croons on "My Future." The single is a semblance of hope, which is tucked within an album by a woman ready to move on from the disappointments blocking the joys of her own womanhood.

But there will come times where you just want to scream your head off—and Eilish will provide the megaphone.

Taylor Swift's Road To Folklore: How The Superstar Evolved From 'Diaristic' Country Tunes To Her Most Progressive Music Yet

2024 Oscars: Billie Eilish and FINNEAS Win Best Original Song For "What Was I Made For?" From The Motion Picture 'Barbie'
Finneas O'Connell and Billie Eilish show off their Oscar awards for Best Original Song for 'What Was I Made For?' from 'Barbie'' at the 96th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood.

Photo: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

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2024 Oscars: Billie Eilish and FINNEAS Win Best Original Song For "What Was I Made For?" From The Motion Picture 'Barbie'

The duo's win for "What Was I Made For?" [From The Motion Picture 'Barbie'] marks the second Oscar win for Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, making Eilish the youngest two-time Oscar winner ever.

GRAMMYs/Mar 11, 2024 - 02:23 am

Sibling duo Billie Eilish and FINNEAS are taking home more awards "What Was I Made For" [From The Motion Picture *Barbie*], this time at the 2024 Oscars, winning the prestigious Best Original Song award for their heartfelt ballad.

Once again, they've proven their unparalleled talent crosses effortlessly between the realms of music and film. Billie Eilish and Finneas won their first Oscar in 2022 for Best Original Song with "No Time to Die," the theme for the James Bond film of the same name.

Fittingly, the award was presented by two GRAMMY-winning musical performers, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who star as Glinda and Elphaba in the Wizard of Oz big screen adaptation of the musical Wicked, premiering on the silver screen later this year. 

2024 Oscars: Watch Performances & Highlights

Eilish, who admitted to having a nightmare the night before receiving the award, burst into laughs before thanking the Academy and Barbie director Greta Gerwig, "Thank you to Greta, where did you go? I love you. Thank you for this. I'm so grateful for this song and this movie and the way that it made me feel."

The pair contended for the award against a diverse group of nominees: Diane Warren with "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot," Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt for "I'm Just Ken" also from Barbie, Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson with "It Never Went Away" from American Symphony, and Scott George for "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" from Killers of the Flower Moon.

Ahead of the win, Eilish and O'Connell gave a stirring paired back performance that highlighted their power as a pair.

Read more: 2024 Oscars: Billie Eilish And FINNEAS Perform A Heartrending Version Of "What Was I Made For?" From The 'Barbie' Soundtrack

"What Was I Made For?" captivated audiences and critics alike with its poignant lyrics and emotive composition, underscoring the siblings' ability to tap into universal feelings of identity and purpose.

This Oscar win is a significant milestone for both artists, reinforcing their status as multifaceted talents capable of storytelling that resonates across different mediums. At the 2024 GRAMMYs, they had already made waves with the same song, winning Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media.

Eilish and Finneas's journey from the music studios to the glitz of the Oscar stage is a testament to their hard work, creativity, and the deep connection they share as siblings. Their ability to collaborate and push the boundaries of music, now recognized by both the Recording Academy and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sets a high bar for artists striving to make their mark across multiple industries.

Eilish and FINNEAS are not just a powerful duo in music but also formidable talents in film music composition. Their Oscar victory tonight is not just a win for them but a win for the incredible synergy between music and storytelling in cinema.

2024 Oscars: Watch Ryan Gosling And Mark Ronson Perform A Soaring, Hilarious Version Of "I'm Just Ken" From The 'Barbie' Soundtrack


2024 Oscars: Watch Billie Eilish And FINNEAS Perform A Heartrending Version Of "What Was I Made For?" From The Motion Picture 'Barbie'
Billie Eilish and FINNEAS performing at the 2024 Oscars

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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2024 Oscars: Watch Billie Eilish And FINNEAS Perform A Heartrending Version Of "What Was I Made For?" From The Motion Picture 'Barbie'

"What Was I Made For?" won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2024 Oscars,. At the 2024 GRAMMYs, Eilish won Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media for the same 'Barbie' song.

GRAMMYs/Mar 11, 2024 - 12:11 am

At the 2024 Oscars, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS performed a devastating version of "What Was I Made For?" [From The Motion Picture *Barbie*], which won the Oscar for Original Song at the 2024 Academy Awards. Watch the performance above.

At the 2024 GRAMMYs earlier this year, Eilish and FINNEAS won Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media for the Barbie song.

During their performance, Eilish and FINNEAS delivered the acclaimed song with intimacy and drama, assisted by sumptuous strings. Where one might expect aggressive amounts of pink — as per the Barbie aesthetic — only muted, tasteful lights cast that hue on the brother-and-sister collaborators, clad in monochromatic garb.

Likewise, the GRAMMY-winning pair simply delivered the song straight, without any fireworks. Clearly, they felt this endlessly affecting tune — which had already gathered two GRAMMYs — worked a la carte, during the biggest night in Hollywood.

The brief yet affecting performance marked yet another time that the GRAMMYs and the Oscars have crossed over — as music and movies have always been entwined and inseparable.

2024 Oscars: Watch Performances & Highlights

Eilish has won nine GRAMMYs and been nominated for 25. As for FINNEAS, he's won 10 GRAMMYs and been nominated for 17.

When Eilish won Song Of The Year at the 2024 GRAMMYs for "What Was I Made For?," she beat out Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Jon Batiste, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, SZA, and Olivia Rodrigo.

"Damn, dude! I'm shocked out of my balls!" Eilish said during her GRAMMYs acceptance speech. "Everybody in this category, that was a crazy list of incredible people."

Keep checking this space for more updates on the 2024 Oscars — including GRAMMY winners and nominees who are featured during the big night!

2024 GRAMMYs: Billie Eilish Wins GRAMMY For Song Of The Year For "What Was I Made For?" From The Barbie Soundtrack

2024 Oscars Red Carpet: Music Icons & Artists Shine Including Billie Eilish, Mark Ronson, Danielle Brooks & More
Billie Eilish attends the 2024 Oscars on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California.

Photo: JC Olivera/Getty Images

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2024 Oscars Red Carpet: Music Icons & Artists Shine Including Billie Eilish, Mark Ronson, Danielle Brooks & More

Visit the intersection of music and movies with a spotlight on the musical talents dazzling the red carpet at the Oscars. Billie Eilish, Danielle Brooks, and more show the creativity and style these multi-talented stars bring to Hollywood's biggest night.

GRAMMYs/Mar 10, 2024 - 08:49 pm

Tonight, the red carpet becomes a runway that blends the art of fashion with the magic of cinema and sound. 

The intersection of music and film has never been more luminous than at this year's Oscars, where numerous GRAMMY-winning artists including Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste, and Bradley Cooper are not just attending but are nominated for their contributions to the silver screen. 

From enchanting melodies that tugged at our heartstrings to groundbreaking scores that redefined movie moments, these artists have already left an indelible mark on the music industry. Tonight, they grace the Oscars red carpet, showcasing not only their unparalleled talent but also their unique fashion sensibilities. 

Take a closer look at these multifaceted talents and their journey from the GRAMMYs to the 2024 Oscars.

2024 Oscars: Watch Performances & Highlights

Billie Eilish

Nominated for: Best Original Song, "What Was I Made For?" from Barbie

Billie Eilish, the alt-pop sensation with nine GRAMMY wins, brings her unique style to the Oscars wearing a tweed schoolgirl look from Chanel. At this year's Academy Awards, Eilish is nominated for the hauntingly beautiful "What Was I Made For?" [From The Motion Picture *Barbie*], the same track that won two GRAMMYs, for Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media, at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

Billie Eilish

*Photo: JC Olivera/Getty Images*

Finneas O'Connell

Nominated for: Best Original Song, "What Was I Made For?" with Billie Eilish

Finneas O'Connell, the mind behind many of sister Billie Eilish’s hits and a 10-time GRAMMY winner in his own right, appears tonight in an ensemble that's as sleek as his production style. Nominated for the poignant "What Was I Made For?," he exudes confidence and creativity, showcasing the depth of his artistic vision.

FINNEAS on the 2024 Oscars red carpet

*Photo: JC Olivera/Getty Images*

Jon Batiste

Nominated for: Best Original Song, "It Never Went Away" from American Symphony

Jon Batiste, a vision of grace on the red carpet in a monochromatic burgundy suit, brings the same passion to his music that won him five GRAMMYs and 19 nominations, including his Album Of The Year win for 2021's We Are

Tonight, he's recognized for his soul-stirring "It Never Went Away", a testament to his versatility and depth as an artist. He won his first Oscar in 2021 for Best Original Score with Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor for their work together on Pixar's Soul.

Jon Batiste

*Photo:* Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Mark Ronson

**Nominated for: Best Original Song, "I'm Just Ken" [From The Motion Picture Barbie]

Mark Ronson, the GRAMMY-winning producer known for hits like "Uptown Funk" and his work on Amy Winehouse's seminal Back to Black, brings well-suited sophistication to the red carpet. As an eight time GRAMMY winner, Ronson won his first Oscar award for Best Original Song in 2021 for "Shallow" for A Star is Born starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Mark Ronson on the 2024 Oscars red carpet

***Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images***

Ludwig Göransson

Nominated for: Best Original Score, Oppenheimer

Ludwig Göransson, took home the Oscar for Best Original Score with a win for Oppenheimer. Known for his innovative soundscapes, Göransson's attire tonight — a satin-lapel tuxedo with wide pants and Cartier jewels — is a harmonious blend of classic and contemporary, much like his music.

Ludwig Gorranson

*Photo: John Shearer/WireImage/Getty Images*

Bradley Cooper

Nominated for: Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Maestro


Bradley Cooper, presents a masterclass in red carpet fashion in a double-breasted tie-less tux with turquoise buttons and boot cut suit pants. A two-time GRAMMY winner for A Star Is Born in 2019, Cooper's transformation into Leonard Bernstein in Maestro is both a critical and stylistic triumph. Tonight, his attire is as meticulously curated as his performance, with a nod to the classical elegance befitting one of the most legendary conductors of all-time.

Bradley Cooper

***Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images***

Danielle Brooks

Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress, The Color Purple

Danielle Brooks dazzles in a black corseted gown with silver embellishments, a diamond necklace, and silver toned jewelry that speaks to her vibrant and powerful portrayal of Sofia in The Color Purple. A GRAMMY winner in 2017 for Best Musical Theater Album for her work in the Broadway revival, Brooks now shines on Oscars Sunday in an ensemble that is a tribute to Sofia's strength, resilience, and grace.

Danielle Brooks

*Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images*

Diane Warren

Nominated for: Best Original Song, "The Fire Inside" from Flamin' Hot

Diane Warren, whose pen has graced many an iconic ballad, steps onto the red carpet in a "Flamin' Hot" look that echoes her lyrical genius. Nominated once again for her songwriting prowess, Warren's attire tonight is a nod to the fiery Becky G track she's nominated for tonight. 

Warren has received 15 GRAMMY nominations through her career and a win for "Because You Loved Me" (Celine Dion, from Up, Close and Personal) which took home Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television in 1997. 

Diane Warren

*Photo:* Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande stepped onto the red carpet just days after the release of her album Eternal Sunshine in a custom Glinda-pink Giambattista Valli gown. Grande presented awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score with Wicked co-star, Cynthia Erivo at the 2024 Oscars.

Ariana Grande

*Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo graced the red carpet in an emerald green Louis Vuitton look with voluminous leather ruffles. Erivo presented awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score with Wicked co-star, Ariana Grande at the 2024 Oscars. 

Cynthia Erivo

*Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images*

Hailey Steinfeld

Nominated: Best Animated Feature, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Hailey Steinfeld showed up to the 2024 Oscars ready to put on a show. The actress and singer wore a couture Elie Saab gown from the Spring/Summer 2024 collection in light blue with butterfly cape sleeves and a pleated skirt, accentuated by metallic appliqués adorning the bodice and wrists of the sleeves.

Hailey Steinfeld

*Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/GettyImages *

Tia Carrere

Tia Carrere attends the 2024 Oscars red carpet. Carrere is a two-time GRAMMY winner for Best Hawaiian Music Album.

Tia Carrere

***Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images***

Slash

Slash, the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses assisted Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson with a performance of 'I'm Just Ken' at the 2024 Oscars. 

Slash
2024 Oscar Nominees Who Have Won A GRAMMY: Billie Eilish, Martin Scorsese & More
Billie Eilish at the 2024 GRAMMYs.

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

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2024 Oscar Nominees Who Have Won A GRAMMY: Billie Eilish, Martin Scorsese & More

From Bradley Cooper to Diane Warren, 12 nominees at the 2024 Oscars have a golden gramophone to their name. Ahead of the Oscars ceremony on March 10, check out the GRAMMY history of this year's nominees.

GRAMMYs/Mar 6, 2024 - 04:33 pm

Music's Biggest Night and the film industry's biggest night are a little more intertwined than one might think.

The GRAMMYs have four Categories that tie in with the Hollywood machine, from Best Song Written For Visual Media to Best Music Film. And the Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording award has offered thespians such as John Gielgud, Viola Davis, and Mike Nichols a route to EGOT glory.

The Academy Awards, meanwhile, gives both composers and songwriters their dues in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song categories, respectively. And the latter's nominees will often be performed to help break up all the drama at the podium, no matter how un-Oscar-like the track may be. Who can forget the fever dream that was The Lego Movie's "Everything Is Awesome," for example?

The 2024 Oscars bring both ceremonies even closer together, with 12 nominees walking in as previous GRAMMY winners. Half of them were even victorious at the 2024 GRAMMYs, including Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell, and Mark Ronson, who all took home golden gramophones for their Barbie contributions (and are all up for the same film at this year's Oscars).

Ahead of the March 10 ceremony, take a look at the GRAMMY stories of 2024 Oscar nominees — from celebrated composers to iconic directors to a few of this year's performers.

2024 Oscars: Watch Performances & Highlights

Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste has had quite the GRAMMY run as of late, picking up 19 nominations in just the last three years alone; he scored five wins for 2021's We Are in 2022, including the prestigious Album Of The Year. The jazz maestro, formerly the bandleader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, has also enjoyed Oscars glory in the same time frame.

Firstly, in 2021, he shared the Best Original Score Oscar with Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor for their work on Pixar animation Soul. And this year, he's nominated in the Best Original Song category for "It Never Went Away," a track featured in his own powerful documentary biopic, American Symphony.

Danielle Brooks 

Two years into her memorable run as prisoner Taystee in "Orange Is the New Black," Danielle Brooks proved her talents extended far beyond the walls of the Litchfield penitentiary with an acclaimed turn in the 2015 Broadway revival of The Color Purple. After the Juilliard graduate picked up a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2016, she became a GRAMMY winner in 2017, when the cast won Best Musical Theater Album.

The all-singing, all-dancing film adaptation of the Alice Walker novel earned Brooks her first Academy Award nod, too. For she once again stole the show in its Hollywood transfer as the strong-minded Sofia, a character first played on the big screen by Oprah Winfrey.

Bradley Cooper  

Bradley Cooper spent six years practicing conducting just six minutes of music for his portrayal of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein in acclaimed biopic Maestro. And the multi-talent's admirable commitment paid off when he received Academy Award nods for Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Actor.

Cooper was also nominated in the latter two categories, along with Best Adapted Screenplay, five years ago for another musical, A Star Is Born, and earned two GRAMMYs for the same project. In 2019, he shared Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Lady Gaga for "Shallow," the spellbinding ballad which also picked up a Record Of The Year nod. A year later, the same film triumphed in Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Billie Eilish  

Like Batiste, Billie Eilish has made an impressive GRAMMYs run in a short span of time. The alt-pop phenomenon has already picked up nine awards from 25 nominations (and she's only just turned 22!). And at her first GRAMMYs just four years ago, Eilish already cemented herself in GRAMMY history: not only did she become just the second artist to claim Best New Artist and Record, Song, and Album Of the Year, but she became the youngest artist to do so at 18 years old.

Eilish added to her GRAMMY legacy with two more wins at the 2024 ceremony, for "What Was I Made For?" [From The Motion Picture *Barbie*], which won the star her second golden gramophones for Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media; her James Bond theme, "No Time To Die," won the latter in 2021.

"What Was I Made For?" —  played during the poignant scene where Margot Robbie's titular character meets her creator — has also enamored Oscar voters. In fact, it's the predicted favorite to clinch Best Original Song, which "No Time to Die" helped Eilish claim in 2022.

Ludwig Göransson

Ludwig Göransson is predicted to win his second Best Original Score Oscar this year thanks to his suitably intense arrangements for Oppenheimer; his first win came in 2019 for Black Panther. The Swedish composer has already won Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for the same projects at the GRAMMYs.

But it's in the realm of socially conscious hip-hop where Göransson has been a GRAMMYs awards trailblazer. Childish Gambino's "This Is America," a powerful state of the nation address which he co-produced, picked up both Song and Record Of The Year at the 2019 ceremony — marking the first time a rap track had won either accolade. Göransson's fruitful partnership with Gambino has also seen him receive nods for Album Of The Year and Best R&B Song.

Finneas O'Connell 

Finneas O'Connell might have eight fewer GRAMMY nominations than his sister (Billie Eilish), but he does have one more win under his belt. Indeed, having masterminded Eilish's blockbuster breakthrough, 2019's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and hit the studio with artists such as Tate McRae, Camila Cabello, and Selena Gomez, the Californian picked up Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical at the 2020 ceremony. (Alongside the nine golden gramophones he's shared with his younger sibling — and primary collaborator — that takes his overall tally up to 10.)

As a co-writer on Eilish's James Bond theme "No Time to Die," Finneas and his sis will have two Oscars a piece should their co-written song, "What Was I Made For?" [From The Motion Picture Barbie], win Best Original Song as predicted.

Mark Ronson 

Mark Ronson first caught GRAMMYs attention for his behind-the-scenes efforts, winning Best Pop Vocal Album, Record Of The Year, and Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical in 2008 for his work on Amy Winehouse's seminal Back to Black. But eight years later, he scooped two GRAMMYs for his very own throwback, the Bruno Mars-featuring "Uptown Funk," and in 2019, picked up Best Dance Recording as part of the supergroup Silk City alongside Diplo and Dua Lipa.

Ronson and Lipa were once again nominated together at the 2024 GRAMMYs for their global chart-topper, "Dance the Night" [From The Motion Picture Barbie], which didn't receive a Best Original Song Academy Award nod. The DJ-turned-hitmaker still notched an Oscar nomination, though, thanks to a different Barbie number he co-wrote: the Ryan Gosling-sung "I'm Just Ken."

Martin Scorsese 

Here's a staggering fact: Martin Scorsese, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers in Hollywood history, has as many GRAMMYs to his celebrated name as he does Oscars: one.

The auteur received his GRAMMY in 2006, when his Bob Dylan documentary, No Direction Home, won in the Best Long Form Music Video Category. (He had been nominated the previous two years, in the same Category in 2005 for his PBS series Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey, and in the Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media Category in 2004 for Gangs Of New York.)

His sole Best Director victory at the Academy Awards came not for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, or Goodfellas, but for his 2006 remake of The Departed in what many interpreted as a career win. He earned his tenth nomination in the coveted category at the 2024 Oscars, for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Diane Warren 

Diane Warren is responsible for some of the all-time great movie power ballads: see the late '90s holy trinity of Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me," LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live," and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss A Thing." However, the prolific songwriter has never won an Oscar outright (she was awarded an honorary one in 2022). She has another shot at the 2024 Oscars thanks to Becky G's "The Fire Inside" from the Cheetos-inspired Flamin' Hot, which earned Warren her 15th Best Original Song nomination.

The songwriting dynamo has received the same number of nods at the GRAMMYs, and celebrated a win in 1997, when "Because You Loved Me" (from 1996's Up, Close and Personal) took home Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television.

John Williams 

Where to start with John Williams? The veteran composer received his 54th Academy Award nod this year, with his work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny recognized in Best Original Score. He remains second only to Walt Disney for the most Oscar nominations ever, he's the only individual to be recognized across seven decades in a row (his first came back in 1968 for Valley of the Dolls), and he became the oldest nominee ever in 2023 — a record which he topped again this year at 91.

And Williams has been even more successful at the GRAMMYS, picking up a remarkable 26 golden gramophones from 76 nominations. His latest came only last month when "Helena's Theme," the piece of music composed for Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character in Dial of Destiny, was crowned Best Instrumental Composition.

Dan Wilson 

Dan Wilson picked up the first of his six GRAMMY nominations with his own band Semisonic's anthemic "Closing Time." But following the alt-rock trio's initial split in 2001, all of his other nods have been for his work as an in-demand songwriter. Wilson has won two of the General Field GRAMMYs, first for Song Of The Year for Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice" in 2006 and Album Of The Year for his work on Adele's 21 in 2012.

And he added a third GRAMMY to his trophy haul this year, as his co-written Chris Stapleton track "White Horse" won Best Country Song. Thanks to his contribution to the aforementioned Batiste ballad, the hitmaker can also now call himself an Oscar nominee, too.

Andrew Wyatt 

Ronson co-produced and co-wrote "I'm Just Ken" [From The Motion Picture Barbie] with longtime collaborator Andrew Wyatt. The pair won the 2019 Best Original Song Oscar for their co-write on A Star Is Born cut "Shallow," and also picked up Best Song Written for Visual Media with the same tearjerker (alongside Cooper) at the GRAMMYs.

Wyatt, who first found fame as one-third of electronic trio Miike Snow before launching a solo career, has also enjoyed a taste of GRAMMY recognition elsewhere. The New Yorker's first nod came in 2012 when Bruno Mars' "Grenade," the emotive heartbreak anthem that counted him as one of six songwriters, was nominated for Song Of The Year.

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