Billie Eilish sat down with David Letterman last week as the guest of honor on the season 4 premiere of his Netflix talk show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. The “Therefore I Am” singer, 20, opened up about Tourette syndrome (which she was diagnosed with at the age of 11) and discussed her experience with the disorder and the impact it has made during her rise to fame over the past few years.
“I’m very happy to talk about it,” she said, adding that she “really loves” answering questions about it because it’s “very, very interesting,” and she is “incredibly confused by it” and “doesn’t get it.” The “Everything I Wanted” hitmaker elaborated, “I never don’t tic at all, because the main tics that I do constantly, all day long, are like, I wiggle my ear back and forth and raise my eyebrow and click my jaw … and flex my arm here and flex this arm, flex these muscles. These are things you would never notice if you’re just having a conversation with me, but for me, they’re very exhausting,” she stressed.
#BillieEilish has opened up about having Tourette’s syndrome in an interview with David Letterman.
Billie said, “I actually really love answering questions about it because it’s very, very interesting” but described her tics as “very exhausting”. pic.twitter.com/X4EBtexkio
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) May 23, 2022
Eilish told Letterman, 75, that she doesn’t experience tics as much when she is “focusing” on tasks or activities that require concentration, like singing or riding horses. She noted that she was diagnosed with Tourette’s ten years ago and has felt her tics become more noticeable as she faces life in the public eye. “It’s really weird, I haven’t talked about it at all. The most common way that people react is they laugh because they think I’m trying to be funny,” she said. “They think I’m [ticcing] as a funny move. And so they go, ‘Ha.’ And I’m always left incredibly offended by that. Or they go ‘What?’ And then I go, ‘I have Tourette’s,'” she continued.
The Grammy winner also said that she has met other fellow artists with Tourette’s who have not shared their experiences publicly like her, and this ultimately shows that the disorder might be more common than many may think. “So many people have it that you would never know. A couple artists came forward and said, ‘I’ve actually always had Tourette’s.’ And I’m not going to out them because they don’t want to talk about it. But that was actually really interesting to me because I was like, ‘You do? What?’ ” Eilish added.
‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman’ #BillieEilish #FINNEAS pic.twitter.com/VDCuaeElXN
— i stan billie (@billie_stan_tim) May 21, 2022
She also told Letterman that while living with Tourette’s may be challenging to endure, she has found peace in accepting herself and finding others who appreciate her for who she is. “It’s not like I like it, but I feel like it’s… part of me. I have made friends with it. And so now, I’m pretty confident in it,” she said. Fans on Twitter and other social media sites continue to share clips of Eilish discussing Tourette’s and dubbing her as “brave,” “powerful” and thanked her for “talking about a disorder that” many of her fans face every day.
