Grammy-winning singer Billie Eilish feared she was heading for a breakdown akin to Britney Spears' 2007 head-shaving drama after hitting her "lowest point" while on tour last year (19).
The 18 year old became a pop phenomenon with the huge success of her debut album, When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, but Eilish recently admitted her sudden rise to fame took a huge toll on her mental health, and even made her feel suicidal.
Now, in a new interview with U.S. Vogue, the musician admits she began sympathising with the personal troubles Spears went through so publicly over a decade ago, because Eilish was concerned she was destined for the same fate.
"As a fan growing up, I was always like 'What the f**k is wrong with them?'," Eilish shared of watching her teen idols fall from grace as a kid. "All the scandals. The Britney moment. You grow up thinking they're pretty and they're skinny; why would they f**k it up?
"But the bigger I get, the more I'm like 'Oh, my God, of course they had to do that.'"
"In my dark places I've worried that I was going to become the stereotype that everybody thinks every young artist becomes, because how can they not?" she continued.
"Last year, when I was at my lowest point during the tour in Europe, I was worried I was going to have a breakdown and shave my head."
Eilish, who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome and has self-harmed in the past, has since managed to reach a healthier place mentally and emotionally, thanks to therapy and a reduced work schedule, but she is continually blown away by her pop stardom - particularly after becoming the youngest artist ever to win the four major categories at the Grammy Awards last month (Jan20).
Reflecting on the groundbreaking career milestone, the Bad Guy hitmaker remarked, "That s**t was f**king crazy."
And Eilish just hopes it provides some encouragement for young, aspiring musicians, as she had been not too long ago.
"If anything it's an exciting thing for the kids who make music in their bedroom," she said. "We're making progress, I think, in that place - kids who don't have enough money to use studios."
