Everyone seems to know who Billie Eilish is, but most don’t know that she has a brother! With Billie’s quick rise to fame, the interest in her life has led to an interest in brother Finneas O’Connell’s life, a life that has almost entirely been dedicated to music since before Billie had a single out. Who is Finneas, though? We’ve got the antidote to your curiosity.
Finneas is an actor, musician, producer, songwriter, and singer—he’s also Billie Eilish’s older brother by four years. In his acting, you might recognize him for his role in Glee as the character Alistair. Music is where Finneas has made his mark, however, already the proud owner of 5 Grammy awards (all for his work on Billie’s album, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go When We Sleep?) at his young age—just remember that the next time you can’t find the motivation to finish that project you’re working on.
Don’t feel too demoralized by Finneas’ incredible and early success. He was born into the perfect opportunity to shine; his mother is a well-established actress and encouraged both Finneas and Billie to express themselves and experiment with art in all its forms, particularly in music and acting. Both Finneas and Billie have been writing songs and making music since they were kids; the first songwriting class that Finneas took was at age 12.
Finneas might be best known for his role in helping his sister Billie come into her own as the popstar she now is—he wrote and produced her famous single “Ocean Eyes” originally for his own band, but gave her the song after her dance teacher asked them to create a song to go along with a dance choreography. They eventually shared the song on SoundCloud, which got the ball rolling for Billie’s rise to fame. Finneas is now a significant player in the songwriting community, writing songs for big names like Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, and even collaborating on a currently unreleased song with John Legend.
Don’t think all of Finneas’ talent goes towards creating music for other artists, though. He has his own band, The Slightlys, who have played sold-out shows in both Los Angeles and New York City. His group has also completed their headlining tour and released a debut EP called Blood Harmony. There is more to Finneas than being Billie Eilish’s big brother, and at only 22, we can’t imagine what big moves he’ll tackle next.