‘SNL’: Billie Eilish Performances Spark Social Media Conversation During Season Premiere

Saturday Night Live returned with an eventful season premiere episode, but Billie Eilish‘s musical guest debut performances stole the show. The 17-year-old singer took the stage for the first time at the longrunning NBC variety sketch series to perform hits from her latest album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Eilish’s performances brought her young fans into the forefront, as they took over social media to celebrate the big milestone.

Not all SNL fans were happy with the choice of musical guest for the start of the season. Some took issue with the singer’s dark lyrics, and even criticized her singing skills and music style.

Eilish first broke into the music scene in 2016, when the then 14-year-old released her first song, “Ocean Eyes,” to SoundCloud. Three years later, the singer released her debut album, which made her the first artist born in the 21st century to top the Billboard 200.

The singer also dethroned Lil Nas X‘s and Billy Ray Cyrus‘ hit song, “Old Town Road” after spending 19 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, with her hit song “Bad Guy” earlier this summer.

While many big pop stars of today work with a big group of songwriters and producers, Eilish co-writes and produces all her music alongside her 21-year-old brother Finneas O’Connell, Vox writes.

“We come from a place as outsiders because we’re still in our childhood bedrooms making music,” O’Connell said of the siblings’ partnership in an interview with the outlet.

Along with her SNL appearance, Eilish has been busy touring and appearing on multiple festivals to support her album. The singer is set to join Metallica, Lizzo, Miley Cyrus and other performers for the upcoming 2020 Global Citizen Festival.

As part of a new initiative be the philanthropic organization, Rolling Stone first reported, the first year of the effort will be celebrated with a global event Sept. 26, 2020 that will be broadcast live for 10 hours and held across five continents.

Woody Harrelson hosted the SNL season premiere, which also marked the first episode since Leslie Jones’ exit. The actress and comedian announced her exit from the show after five years earlier this year.

Saturday Night Live airs weekly at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The next episode will feature host Phoebe Waller-Bridge and musical guest Taylor Swift.

Photo Credit: Will Heath/NBC