- Who
- Billie Eilish
- What
- 22:83 year(s):day(s)
- Where
- United States (Los Angeles)
- When
Billie Eilish (USA, b. Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell, 18 December 2001) was 22 years 83 days old when she won Best Original Song as the co-composer (with brother FINNEAS) of “What Was I Made For?” at the 96th Academy Awards on 10 March 2024.
FINNEAS (b. Finneas Baird O’Connell, 30 July 1997), at the age of 26 years 224 days, followed suit as the youngest male to claim two Oscar statuettes.
At the 94th Academy Awards on 27 March 2022, Eilish had broken new ground as the first Oscar winner born in the 21st century when she took Best Original Song for the James Bond theme “No Time to Die”, again in collaboration with FINNEAS. With this trophy, Eilish also became the second-youngest winner of Best Original Song (first awarded in 1935): Czech/Icelandic singer-songwriter and actress Markéta Irglová (b. 28 February 1988) was four days shy of her 20th birthday when “Falling Slowly” – co-written with her Once (Ireland, 2007) co-star Glen Hansard – won the prize at the 80th Academy Awards on 24 February 2008.
Best Actress victors Luise Rainer (b. 12 January 1910; aged 28 years 57 days on 10 March 1938) and Jodie Foster (b. 19 November 1962; aged 29 years 132 days on 30 March 1992) had been the youngest two-time Academy Award winners before the Los Angeles-born siblings triumphed in 2024.
“What Was I Made For?”, taken from Greta Gerwig’s pink-infused Barbie, the highest-grossing movie of 2023, was the only one of the film’s eight nominations to bear fruit at the 96th Academy Awards. Although, the understated ballad had previously won Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media for its co-composers at the 66th Grammy Awards on 4 February 2024.
