Unlike many artists from his era, Paul McCartney has remained interested in new music and what new songwriters are doing, even now in his 80s. He has recognized many fantastic artists at the beginning of their careers, praising their talent and potential. In recent years, he has talked about many of the new pop stars who have been gathering millions of fans worldwide, giving his opinion on them, including siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell.
What is Paul McCartney’s opinion on Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
Paul is a big fan of Billie and her brother Finneas, he had the chance to meet them and praised their music many times over the years. He really liked their her debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”, released in 2019, which was recorded entirely in her bedroom.
“I think for them it’s brilliance and, you know, what they produced from the bedroom is really very special. I listened to their stuff and I think it’s really great. But the truth is that for me the memories of going into EMI studios and to Abbey Road and the thrill of, you know, being some kid who did it in his bedroom long enough, thank you very much.”
“It’s so exciting and you’re sort of learning as you go along, so I wouldn’t swap that for anything. (…) Stella FaceTimed me with Billie and her family. Because she wore some of Stella’s clothes on Glastonbury when she played it, so they were there. It was great to sort of chat with them and stuff,” he said in an interview with Howard Stern in 2020. Like Paul, who composed “Live and Let Die”, theme of the James Bond movie of the same name released in 1973, Billie Eilish also wrote a 007 theme.
In 2020, when asked by GQ Magazine which was his favorite song of the franchise without counting his track, he chose Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger”, from the 1964 movie, but he also praised Billie’s “No Time to Die”. That song was featured in the 2021 film, the last one with Daniel Craig as the secret agent.
He said:
“I think “Goldfinger” (is my favorite). The thing about the Bond themes is they’ve got to capture the spirit of the film and be sort of super memorable, so I think (sings) “Gold-fingeeeer”. I thought the Billie Eilish song was good actually. I was wondering whether she and her brother were going to be able to pull it off, in their bedroom. But I thought she did really well. I’m looking forward to seeing it in the film, but I thought she was good. I love the way, at the end of it, Finneas flings in a Bond chord. ‘Ding!’ – there it is,” he said.
McCartney is also a big fan of Taylor Swift and praised Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo. He had the chance to meet them, as he recalled in a 2026 interview with BBC Radio 2, after being asked if he would give advice to younger generations of artists if they asked him for it.
“I’m like the older brother to (this new generation), more like the grandad, actually. I did meet them. We had a party, my wife and my daughter Stella are very good at getting cool people to a party. So a lot of those girls were at this party and I ended up chatting to them all. There was Taylor, Billie Eillish, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter. They are really cool people, they are very good. I like their voices, (but) if they needed any advice, yeah, I would be happy to give it. But I don’t think they do,” he said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Billie Eilish said she owes 95% of her love for music to The Beatles and Paul McCartney
As every generation during the past six decades, Billie Eilish was also introduced to The Beatles and loved their music. She is a big fan of the Fab Four and Paul McCartney, having said that she owes 95% of her love for music to them. Talking to NME in 2022, before headlining Glastonbury festival in England, she praised them. “(I’m) so honoured to be a part of (the festival). It doesn’t matter how old you are (she said about being the first headlining artist born after 2000) where you’re from, what you look like or who you are: you can do this shit.”
“My name next to theirs (legendary acts like Paul) and being on the same level as them… it’s bonkers. I remember Kendrick (Lamar) headlined a festival I went to when I was 14. I couldn’t believe he was headlining this small festival because he was so huge. And now I’m headlining the same festival as him and Paul McCartney… are you kidding me? The Beatles were what raised me. My love for music I feel 95 per cent owes to the Beatles and Paul. It’s insane to think about,” she said.
Billie Eilish’s favorite Beatles songs
Over the years, Billie has covered many Beatles songs, including “I Will,” “Something” and “Yesterday.” When asked by Slow Zoom in 2021, which was her favorite song by the British band she said: “I love ‘Something’. I love ‘Julia’, I love ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’, I love ‘Anna (Go To Him)’, I love ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’, gosh, I could go on and on, I love The Beatles”
Not only was she happy about the FaceTime call with McCartney, but her parents also loved it, as he recalled in an interview. “It’s unreal. I feel like recently I’ve met a lot of people that my parents grew up as fans of. You know, that’s no disrespect to your age Dave (Grohl, who was in the audience) (laughs). I think that’s when it really hits me. Because I was even in a meeting with Stella McCartney and she facetimed her ‘dad’, which is Paul McCartney. So, my mom cried, my dad cried,” she said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres in 2019. Paul and Billie were seen hanging out at the Oasis reunion show in Los Angeles in 2025.