25 August 2023 , 16:00
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Singing superstar Billie Eilish will be adding to her already impressive career by headlining Reading and Leeds Festival this weekend alongside acts such as Sam Fender, The Killers, The 1975 and Imagine Dragons. The 21-year-old singer will be headlining Leeds' Main Stage East at 9.30pm today, Friday, August 25, just days after her single What Was I Made For? helped break UK chart records.
The track, which appears in the Barbie movie, claimed the number-one spot and Dua Lipa followed closely behind at number two with Dance The Night, which also features in the film. The pair leads an all-star lineup of female singers to dominate the entire top six of the chart, the first time in the chart's 70-year history that solo female artists have done so.
The siblings have a close-knit relationship (Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)The American star has received multiple accolades throughout her career - and that's thanks to the vital role of her brother Finneas O'Connell. Billie catapulted to stardom with her award-winning career as a singer-songwriter - shortly after the release of her album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? - released in 2019.
To date, the star is the youngest artist in Grammy history and third overall to win all four categories - but that isn't without the help of her brother Finneas, 26. He plays a vital role in his sister's career - and has done so before the Bad Guy singer stepped into the spotlight.
Who is Finneas O'Connell?
It isn't unusual for Finneas and Billie to perform together (WireImage)Finneas has been a songwriter since the age of 12, and shortly after he began producing songs on Logic Pro. He is the lead singer of the band The Slightlys and in 2019, he released his own EP as FINNEAS - named Blood Harmony. Away from good vocals and incredible writing skills - the singing superstar has a completely different career. Finneas has even enjoyed his time in front of the camera in other ways - and that's as an actor.
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He had a brief stint on 2011 film Bad teacher where he played the role of a student - and 2014's Life Inside Out was written and starred by his mother, Maggie Baird. However, Finneas' most recognisable role is as the role of Alistair, Spencer's love interest, in the final season of musical series Glee.
Apart from playing a pivotal role in his sister's success, he has also produced tracks for Camila Cabello, John Legend, and Selena Gomez's hit single Lose You to Love Me. Finneas co-wrote and produced Billie's debut EP Don't Smile At Me, followed by her hit debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Finneas has produced songs for huge stars and performs himself (Getty Images for ABA)They've co-written some of superstar's biggest sons, including Bad Guy and the award-winning James Bond song No Time to Die. Discussing his process of writing songs with Atwood Magazine, Finneas described how he writes songs for his sister based on "empathy". "Well for Billie, if I'm writing a song alone for Billie like 'Ocean Eyes' or 'watch' or 'Six Feet Under,' I want to write a song that I think she'll relate to and enjoy singing and empathise with the lyrics and make her own," he said.
"And if I'm writing a song with Billie I'm just trying to help her tell whatever story she's trying to tell, bounce ideas off of her, listen to her ideas. Similarly to other artists, if you're writing and you know that someone else's voice is going to be the voice telling the story, it should be a language that fits them."
Both Finneas and Billie have the medical condition synesthesia - where stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary responses in a second. "I think visually first with everything I do, and also I have synesthesia, so everything that I make I'm already thinking of what colour it is, and what texture it is, and what day of the week it is, and what number it is, and what shape," Billie revealed in a YouTube video. She added: "We both have it, so we think about everything this way."
Finneas and Billie have co-written award-winning songs (The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
Finneas is dating Youtuber Claudia Suleswki (AFP via Getty Images)Away from the spotlight, Finneas enjoys a romantic relationship with his current partner and YouTuber Claudia Suleswki. The pair have been together since 2018 after originally meeting on a dating app. They've now been together for over four years, with Finneas sharing a sweet tribute to his girlfriend for their fourth anniversary in September 2022.
"You'd have to scour the globe to try to find someone equally as talented, creative and hard working as you are, my love. Then you'd have to do it a second time to try to find someone as kind, thoughtful and generous. A third time to find someone as funny, a fourth to find someone as loving, a fifth to find someone as beautiful," he wrote on Instagram. "How you manage to be every one of these things all at once, will forever be the impossibility of you. Happy anniversary, Baby, I love the hell out of you." Finneas has even released the song Claudia about the first night they met in 2019.