Billie Eilish and Finneas OConnell Become Oscars Youngest Two-Time Winners Ever, Taking (2024)

Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell made Oscar history by becoming the two youngest two-time winners in Academy Awards history, as they picked up the best song trophy for a second time Sunday night for “What Was I Made For?,” their contribution to the “Barbie” soundtrack.

The pop-star siblings previously won for “No Time to Die,” the title song for the 2022 James Bond film. At 22, Eilish has now become the youngest two-time winner in Oscar history; at 26, O’Connell is believed to be the second youngest dual winner.

Eilish’s acceptance speech was punctuated with nervous laughter, as she thanked director Greta Gerwig. “I’m so grateful for this song and for this movie and the way it made me feel,” she said. “This goes out to everyone who was affected by this movie.” She thanked her school dance and choir teachers (including one “Miss Teague, who didn’t like me but you were good at your job,” which brought a laugh from the Dolby Theatre audience). She also thanked her “best friend Zoe for playing Barbies with me growing up.”

Related Stories

The Great Cable Rollup That Will Never Be

Taiwan's Oscar Hopeful 'Old Fox' Explores Economic Inequality Through Child's Eyes: 'Freedom Is Our Opportunity'

O’Connell added thanks to producer-star Margot Robbie, score composer-producers Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt “for making the song with us,” and their parents “forever and ever and ever.”

Popular on Variety

Backstage after the win, Eilish spoke about an early musical-theater experience, seeing “Matilda” on Broadway at age 12, “sobbing my eyes out and [thinking] I’m a failure, I’m not going to have a career.” Just a decade later, she has two Oscars and nine Grammys.

O’Connell attributed the success of the film to “great storytelling. People went into that movie expecting to see a spectacle, expecting to laugh, and Greta and Margot brought a lot more to it. We went into that movie for the first time to think about writing a song for it, and this was so much more than we thought we were going to see. We were so moved by it.”

Eilish added that “it made a lot of people feel very seen. That can be rare, especially as a woman. I think that really resonated, and traveled the world, feeling seen and heard and understood.”

READ MORE: See all the 2024 Oscar winners here.

“What Was I Made For?” was one of two nominated “Barbie” songs. “I’m Just Ken,” the comic lament sung by Ryan Gosling, was the other (by Ronson and Wyatt, who previously won for “Shallow” in 2018’s “A Star Is Born”).

But while “I’m Just Ken” was performed on-camera in the film, as part of the beachfront battle and elaborate dance number, Eilish’s tender ballad — a melancholy meditation on the complexity of human emotions — added emotional depth to the story and was widely predicted to win. Gerwig called it “Barbie’s heart song.”

Eilish and O’Connell already won the Golden Globe and two Grammys (including song of the year) along with Society of Composers & Lyricists honors for “What Was I Made For?” Further boosting it in the odds was an estimated 633 million streams for the Eilish song, far outpacing the 105 million reported for “I’m Just Ken.”

Read More About:

• Barbie,
• Billie Eilish,
• Finneas O'Connell,
• Music for Screens,
• Oscars

More from Variety

• ‘The Golden Bachelorette’ Concludes Tonight: Here’s How to Watch the Finale Live Online

• One Year Later, ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’ Legitimizes Microsoft-Activision Deal

• Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple Tell All on Their ‘Golden Bachelorette’ Engagement, Wedding Plans and Who the Next ‘Golden Bachelor’ Should Be

• Disney Snares Grammys From CBS in First Change for Music Awards in 50 Years

• Generative AI in TV: VIP+ at Mipcom Cannes Recap

• ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Halloween Night Results in First 10s of the Season — and a Shocking Elimination

Most Popular

• Robin Williams Called Conan O’Brien After ‘Tonight Show’ Firing and Sent Him Out on a Bike Ride: ‘You’re Gonna Be Fine. Ride Around, You’ll Feel…

• MSNBC Faces Potential for Big Changes in Comcast Cable Spin-Off

• Denzel Washington Lost Best Actor to Kevin Spacey and Stopped Voting for Oscars: ‘They Don’t Care About Me? I Don’t Care. I Gave Up. I Got Bitter…

• Matthew McConaughey Made a Pact With His Wife After Leaving Hollywood for Texas: ‘I'm Not Going Back Unless I Get Offered Roles’ That Aren’t…

• ‘The Studio’ Trailer: Movie Exec Seth Rogen Gets Berated by Scorsese, Charlize Theron, Ron Howard and More in Apple TV+ Comedy

• HBO Says ‘Harry Potter’ Series Will ‘Benefit’ From J.K. Rowling’s Involvement: She ‘Has the Right to Express Her Personal Views…

• Denzel Washington Has Been Sober for 10 Years, Says He Used to Drink Two Bottles of Wine a Day and ‘I’ve Done Damage to the Body’

• ‘Emily in Paris’ Season 5 Will Start Shooting in France Next Spring, Lucas Bravo to Return as Gabriel (EXCLUSIVE)

• Ralph Macchio on Why Now Was the Right Time to End 'Cobra Kai,' the Future of Daniel LaRusso and That Coldplay Music Video

• Anne Hathaway to Star in Colleen Hoover’s ‘Verity’ Movie Adaptation

Must Read

• Film

  COVER | Paul Mescal's Road to 'Gladiator II'

  By Andrew Wallenstein 1 week

• Music

  Grammy Nominations 2025: Beyonce Leads With 11 Nods

• Film

  Mattel’s ‘Wicked’ Movie Dolls Mistakenly List Porn Site on Packaging

• Film

  With ‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,’ Director Tyler Taormina Makes an Instant Holiday Classic

• TV

  How ‘Office Ladies’ Transformed From a BFF Hang for Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey to One of the Biggest Podcasts in the World

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXOAjqasrKGTZLumw9JomaKknJ6ybrHIpaCsoF2btq%2B6xJqqZpqVqMFuv86nnmano5ius3nBmqmboZVifnN%2FlHJqbm9jbnw%3D