With so many chart toppers and Grammy nominations under her belt, people often forget that Billie Eilish is only 17 years old. Considering her age, is it really that crazy that she doesn’t know who 70s rock band Van Halen are?
During a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the talk show host asked the singer if she could name any member of Van Halen.
“Who? No, who is that?” Eilish asked, to which Kimmel responded, “I’m gonna start crying.”
It’s been a few weeks since then but there are plenty of Twitter users who are still in utter disbelief that Eilish doesn’t know who Van Halen is.
There was so much chatter on Twitter about Eilish’s knowledge of 70s rock music that 28-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen, the band’s current bassist and son of Eddie Van Halen, defended the singer on Twitter.
“If you haven’t heard of Billie Eilish, go check her out. She’s cool,” he wrote. “If you haven’t heard of Van Halen, go check them out. They’re cool, too.”
“Music is supposed to bring us together, not divide us. Listen to what you want and don’t shame others for not knowing what you like.”
Van Halen has a point, and another thing worth mentioning is that the band has technically been on somewhat of a ‘hiatus’ since 2015 so they’re not really on many people’s radar at the moment, let alone a 17-year-old girl’s.
Perhaps Eilish not knowing Van Halen is a sign of the times. As we enter a new decade is it time to do away with the idea you need a certain amount of music history knowledge?
One of Billie Eilish’s best qualities is that her music has mass appeal – she has fans who are 13 and fans who are 60. There’s no age limit to who loves Billie, and there shouldn’t be any prejudice about who you listen to or know about, either.
This tweet pretty much hits the nail on the head:
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