The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean compares Billie Eilish to Mozart in terms of both talent and success. The 20-year-old singer has achieved huge success since her 2015 debut single "Ocean Eyes," which she released when she was only 14. Her songs have appeared on the soundtracks of many major films and television series including Riverdale and Bridgerton, and her #1 single "Bad Guy" is seemingly the inspiration for the title of the upcoming animated comedy The Bad Guys, which is using the track heavily in its promotion.
Eilish and her producer-songwriter brother Finneas, who has collaborated with her since the beginning, are set to appear in an upcoming Simpsons short film. The project, which is titled "When Billie Met Lisa," will be debuting on the Disney+ streaming service on Friday, April 22, 2022. The release of this short, which sees Lisa attempting to find a place to practice her saxophone and stumbling into a studio where Eilish is recording, will coincide with Eilish making history as the youngest performer to ever headline Coachella.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to sit down for an exclusive interview with Al Jean, who is the current showrunner of The Simpsons. During the conversation, the topic turned to Eilish's upcoming appearance on the series. Jean gushed that "her talent and success is unrivaled since Mozart." He acknowledges that he's kidding, but only a little bit. He was wowed by the fact that her recording The Simpsons was the third most important part of her week, in which she was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song for "No Time to Die" (which she later won) and met President Biden. Read the full quote below:
Her talent and success is unrivaled since Mozart. Can you really make that statement about someone? I know it's a joke, but it's really true. We recorded with her, and that week, it's like, "What else has been going on?" She got nominated for an Oscar, she met the president, and we were the third thing. We're like, "Well, happy to be number three."
Jean, who is a member of the original writing staff of The Simpsons, has been the sole showrunner of the long-running animated sitcom since season 13, which premiered 20 years ago. Over the course of his tenure with the series, he has overseen vocal cameos from many prominent musical artists, including Tom Petty, Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz, Little Richard, and "Weird" Al Yankovic, and that's only including cameos from season 14. For him to be this impressed by a new young artist shows just how much impact Eilish has already had on popular culture in a few short years.
Even though she has been alive for less time than it's been on the air, Eilish holds more Golden Globes than The Simpsons itself (which was nominated in 2003 but didn't win), which is another one of her astonishing achievements. Her appearance in the series is a natural next step in her ascent as one of the decade's most prominent stars. It may also prove to be an important step in her career should she ever make more of a foray into acting onscreen.