Why Billie Eilish Became Justin Bieber’s One Less Lonely Girl at Coachella

During his weekend two headlining set on April 18 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, Justin Bieber brought Billie Eilish onstage during “One Less Lonely Girl,” his fan-serenade bit from the early days of his career. Video from the festival shows Billie being guided from the VIP area. Justin then sat her on a stool and sang directly to her as she teared up.

Billie watched the set from the VIP section with Claudia Sulewski, who is engaged to Finneas, and with Hailey Bieber. Video from the event showed Hailey shoving Billie out of the VIP section and toward the stage, where Justin sat her on a stool and sang to her in front of the crowd. The choice was not random, as Billie has been one of the most famous Beliebers on the planet for years.

Long before Billie became a Grammy-winning artist, she spoke openly about being obsessed with Justin as a kid. In 2018, she called him her “first love” in an interview with KROQ’s Kevin and Bean Show. “When I was, like 12, I was not a fan of him. … That was, like, my first love,” she said, per People. “That was the person I was in love with. In my head, he was in love with me. It was, like, a relationship with a person.”

During a 2019 appearance on the Dutch talk show De Wereld Draait Door, Billie doubled down on her love for Biebs suggesting he is the reason she wanted to become famous. "The only time that I really was like, 'I want to be famous,' I only wanted to be famous so I could be closer to Justin Bieber," she said. "Really, I was planning on it. I was like, 'If I got famous, then I would be closer to meeting him.'"

Justin and Billie’s story started at Coachella. According to People, the two first met there in 2019 during Ariana Grande’s headlining set, after Justin commented on Billie’s Instagram and urged her to check her DMs. Billie later called that weekend one of the most life-changing experiences of her life.

“Some of the most life changing things I’ll ever experience happened over the weekend,” she wrote, per People. “And I don’t want a bunch of pictures to have to prove that to anybody. Understand how moved I am. I don’t know how to process and relay the love I feel for the people I feel it for. I feel full thank you.”

Billie and Justin built a real friendship after that. Their connection moved from fan and idol to collaborators when they teamed up on the remix of Billie’s 2019 single “Bad Guy.” Over time, that working relationship turned into a genuine friendship. Billie later called Justin “a good friend of mine” and said he helped her navigate fame. She explained that he would check in on her and make her feel understood.

"He's a good friend of mine. He has been so helpful for me, in terms of just, like, dealing with fame." Billie said, "He'll call me sometimes and just say stuff that makes me just feel heard and like there's somebody else that goes through the same stuff. So it's really nice to have him."