“I was terrified of the paparazzi and these stalkers I’ve had.”
The Real Reason Billie Eilish Dyed Her Hair Blonde Is Kind of Heartbreaking
Billie Eilish made headlines when she debuted her Happier Than Ever-era platinum blonde hair back in March, but her reason for the dramatic change was all about "anonymity.”
When Eilish first opened up about transitioning from what was quickly becoming her signature black hair with green roots, the Grammy-winning artist told Ellen DeGeneres that she did so on a whim. “I had been wanting it blonde for a while, I don't know what came over me,” she said in May. “I saw a fan edit when I had green hair. It was me with whatever hair color I had, and they just edited blonde hair on me and I was like, ‘Ah, it’s so sick; I want it.’”
But now, over four months later, Eilish has revealed a deeper reason for the dye job. “I couldn’t go anywhere with that hair because it was so obviously me. I wanted anonymity,” she told Elle magazine in a new interview. With the blonde hair came a new sense of freedom.
“I went to a park with a friend, and I was like, ‘No, I can’t take off my hood!’" she said. "I was terrified of the paparazzi and these stalkers I’ve had. But my friend was like, ‘Don’t worry: You’re okay. Nothing’s gonna happen.’ And I took my hood off, and I felt like a new person.”
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That's honestly heartbreaking to hear. Luckily, her hair was able to handle the intense treatment. At the time, she told DeGeneres that she was worried she wouldn't be able to pull the style off. “I thought of it as a dream. I didn’t think it was gonna happen because my hair’s been through so much,” Billie Eilish said of the process, which took six whole weeks. "I thought I would burn it all off if I tried [to go blonde]. But I did it!”
As for choosing to go platinum, specifically, it doesn't actually get much deeper than her original statement. “I had no goal of ‘This is going to make everybody think differently of me.’ I’ve had different-colored hair and vibes for everything I’ve ever done. I wanted this album to have its own thing,” Eilish clarified to Elle. “The other day, I posted a video from when I had green hair, and I saw people go, ‘I miss this Billie, the green-haired Billie.' I’m still the same person. I’m not just different Barbies with different heads.”
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Condé Nast
