Heading into the 2024 Academy Awards, a pair of Barbie tracks were favorites to win Best Original Song: Billie Eilish’s ballad “What Was I Made For?” — which took home the same award at the Golden Globes and Grammys earlier this year — and the Ryan Gosling-sung anthem “I’m Just Ken,” which recently won the Best Song at the Critics Choice Awards. On Oscars night, it was Eilish who won the award, making her the youngest two-time Oscar winner.
“I had a nightmare about this last night,” Eilish said, clearly flustered as she accepted the award. “I just didn’t think this would happen. I wasn’t expecting this. I feel so incredibly lucky and honored.”
“I’m grateful for this song and this movie and the way it made me feel,” she added, dedicating the award to the people impacted by Barbie and shouting out director Greta Gerwig. Finneas chimed in, “Thank you to our parents for ever and ever and ever.”
Eilish also thanked her dance and choir teachers, noting, “Ms. T you didn’t like me, but you were good at your job.”
Director Gerwig ran up to hug the pair following the announcement of their win.
Backstage, while talking to the press, Eilish offered advice to anyone considering entering the music industry. “I would say, don’t do it for other people, don’t do it for like numbers or some sort of specific fame,” she said. “I want everyone to be doing something they feel passionate about, and they feel proud of, and makes them feel like the best version of themself.”
She recalled being 12 and watching an “amazing” production of “Matilda” and “balling” because she wasn’t starring in a musical yet. “(I was) sobbing my eyes out like, ‘Damn, I’m a failure and won’t be able to have a career,’” she recalled with a laugh. “Give yourself some time and do what you love. I know it’s easier said than done,” she said.
For Eilish and Finneas, this is the siblings’ second Best Original Song win, having previously scored an Oscar for “No Time to Die” (from the James Bond film of the same name) in 2021. The singer now has a pair of Oscars and Golden Globes in addition to her nine Grammy Awards.
“What Was I Made For?,” which placed ninth on Rolling Stone‘s 100 Best Songs of 2023, also won Song of the Year at the 2024 Grammys, where Eilish also performed the song live.