Finneas O'Connell
O'Connell at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards
Born
Finneas Baird O'Connell

(1997-07-30) July 30, 1997
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
  • actor
Years active2011–present
WorksSee discography
PartnerClaudia Sulewski (2018–present)
Parent
RelativesBillie Eilish (sister)
Brian Baird (uncle)
Musical career
GenresAlternative pop[1]
Labels
Websitefinneasofficial.com

Finneas Baird O'Connell (born July 30, 1997),[2] also known mononymously as Finneas (stylized in all caps),[3][4] is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has written and produced music for various artists, most notably his younger sister, Billie Eilish. He has won eight Grammy Awards among 13 total nominations, including nominations for the Big Four categories. He has made history as the youngest act to win the Producer of the Year, Non-Classical category. For his work with Eilish, he has won Record of the Year twice in a row, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. He was also nominated for Best New Artist for his solo work.[5][6] Their song "No Time to Die" from the film of the same name earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and another Grammy.

Finneas has released several singles as a solo artist, and his debut EP, Blood Harmony, was released in October 2019. The EP includes "Let's Fall in Love for the Night", his most successful song to date, peaking at number 17 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart.[7] His debut studio album Optimist was released through Interscope Records in October 2021.

Finneas starred in the 2013 independent film Life Inside Out.[8] He is also known for his role as Alistair in the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee.[9] He has also made an appearance on the American sitcom Modern Family.[10]

Early life

Finneas performing with his sister Billie Eilish in 2022

Finneas was born in Los Angeles to actress and screenwriter Maggie Baird[11] and actor Patrick O'Connell, both of whom are also musicians.[12][10] Finneas is of Irish and Scottish descent.[13] In 2010, at age 12, he took a songwriting class with his mother, and began writing and producing songs.[14][15]

Career

Songwriting and producing

Finneas has said his experience playing characters helped with writing music for his sister Billie Eilish, because he writes from her perspective and for her vocal range.[10] He stated: "Being able to hear an artist and emulate them has been a huge part of being successful as a producer and co-writer".[10] When he writes for his sister, he wants to "write a song that I think she'll relate to and enjoy singing and empathise with the lyrics and make her own", and when he writes with her he tries to "help her tell whatever story she's trying to tell, bounce ideas off of her, listen to her ideas."[16]

Similarly to other artists, if you're writing and you know that someone else's voice is going to be the voice telling the story, it should be a language that fits them. ... Everybody has a different vocabulary, a different way of putting sentences together, and the easiest way to tell if a song wasn't written by someone is if it doesn't fit their vernacular, so I try to match whatever I'm helping them make to whoever they seem to be. A lot of that also ... is asking an artist how they feel about it. If you come up with a line, even if an artist really likes it and is like 'That's a really cool line,' it's like 'Yeah, but can you wear it? Is it a thing you’d feel comfortable with singing every time?'[16]

Finneas had written and produced his song "Ocean Eyes" originally for his band, and gave it to Eilish when her dance teacher asked them to write a song for a choreography.[10][17] They posted the song on SoundCloud, garnering praise from various websites.[10] Finneas's manager reached out to him in November 2015 to talk about Eilish's potential. Finneas then helped Eilish sign to the A&R company Platoon.[12] He co-wrote and produced Eilish's debut EP Don't Smile at Me (2017), which peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard 200.[18][19] Finneas also co-wrote and produced Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), which debuted atop the US and UK charts.[20] He won the 2020 Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical; Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Eilish's "Bad Guy"; and Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?[21]

He has also been known to work with Grammy winners the Coutinho twins.[22] He produced the 2019 single "Lose You to Love Me" by Selena Gomez,[23] which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100,[24] and two tracks on the 2019 album Romance by Camila Cabello.[25] He also produced "Moral of the Story" by Ashe,[26] and collaborated with John Legend on an unreleased song.[27] O'Connell composed the score for the 2021 teen drama film The Fallout.[28]

Solo music career

He is the lead singer and songwriter of the band The Slightlys, which played the Warped Tour in 2015.[29][30][10] His first solo single, "New Girl", was released in 2016,[31] with the music video released in 2019.[32] In 2017, he released the single "I'm in Love Without You", and eight singles in 2018: "Break My Heart Again", "Heaven", "Life Moves On", "Landmine", "Hollywood Forever", "College", "Luck Pusher", and "Let's Fall in Love for the Night". In early 2019, Finneas played his first sold-out headline shows in New York[10] and Los Angeles.[33]

His debut EP, Blood Harmony, was released on October 4, 2019.[7] The EP's first single, "I Lost a Friend", was released on June 25, 2019,[34] while the second single, "Shelter", was released on August 22, 2019,[35] and the third single, "I Don't Miss You At All", on September 20, 2019.[36] In October 2019, he embarked on his first headlining tour, in five cities in the US, in addition to a performance at Austin City Limits.[7]

On August 7, 2020, he released a surprise deluxe version of Blood Harmony, featuring two new tracks, "Break My Heart Again" and "Let's Fall in Love for the Night (1964)", the latter being an alternate version of the sixth track, "Let's Fall in Love for the Night". About two weeks later, O'Connell released a single titled "What They'll Say About Us".[37] It peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart. On October 21, Finneas released his single "Can't Wait to Be Dead" about his love-hate relationship with the Internet, along with a visual directed by Constellation Jones the following day.[38][39]

Finneas is one of twelve artists featured on Ringo Starr's 2021 EP Zoom In, contributing backing vocals to the song "Here's to the Nights". On March 2, 2021, Finneas and Ashe released a collaboration titled "Till Forever Falls Apart", which he co-wrote and produced.[40][41]

On August 5, 2021, Finneas announced that his debut studio album Optimist would be released on October 15, 2021 through Interscope Records, and shared its lead single "A Concert Six Months from Now".[42] He also composed the scores to the films The Fallout (2021), and Vengeance (2022).

Acting

In 2011, Finneas played a student in the comedy film Bad Teacher.[10] In 2013, he co-starred in Life Inside Out, written by and starring his mother Maggie Baird and directed by Jill D'Agnenica.[43] He had recurring guest roles on Modern Family and Aquarius, and played Alistair in the final season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee in 2015.[10][44]

Personal life

Finneas is based in Los Angeles.[45] He has been in a relationship with YouTuber Claudia Sulewski since September 2018.[46][47][48] His single "Claudia" was written after the night they met.[49]

He was raised vegetarian, before becoming vegan.[50][51]

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Soundtrack albums

Tours

Headlining tours

  • Optimist Tour (2021)

Filmography

Finneas (right) with his mother Maggie Baird at the 2014 Palm Beach International Film Festival
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Bad Teacher Spencer
2013 Life Inside Out Shane
Tomorrow Tom Short
2013–2014 Modern Family Ronnie Jr. 2 episodes
2014 happySADhappy Andrew Short
2015 Glee Alistair 4 episodes
Aquarius Earnest Boy 2 episodes
Fallout 4[52] Liam Binet (voice) Video game
2018 Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk[53] Tom
2021 Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry[54] Himself Documentary
Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles[55] Concert film
Saturday Night Live Episode: "Billie Eilish/Billie Eilish"
2022 Turning Red 4*Town member Jesse (voice)

Awards and nominations

Award Year[upper-alpha 1] Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Category Result Ref.
Academy Awards "No Time to Die" (as songwriter) Best Original Song Won [56]
ASCAP Pop Music Awards
2019
 Himself and Billie Eilish Vanguard Award Won [57]
Apple Music Awards Himself and Billie Eilish Songwriter of the Year Won [58]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards "No Time to Die" (as songwriter) Best Song Won [59]
Golden Globe Awards "No Time to Die" (as songwriter) Best Original Song Won [60]
"What Was I Made For?" (as songwriter) Best Original Song Won
Grammy Awards "Bad Guy" (as producer and songwriter) Record of the Year Won [61]
Song of the Year Won
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (as producer) Album of the Year Won
Best Pop Vocal Album Won
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Won
Himself Producer of the Year, Non-Classical Won
"Everything I Wanted" (as producer and songwriter) Record of the Year Won [62]
Song of the Year Nominated
"No Time to Die" (as songwriter) Best Song Written for Visual Media Won
Himself Best New Artist Nominated [63]
"Happier Than Ever" (as producer and songwriter) Record of the Year Nominated
Song of the Year Nominated
Happier Than Ever (as producer) Album of the Year Nominated
Justice (as producer) Nominated
"Nobody Like U" (as songwriter) Best Song Written for Visual Media Nominated [64]
"What Was I Made For?" (as producer and songwriter) Record of the Year Pending [65]
Song of the Year Pending
Best Song Written for Visual Media Pending
iHeartRadio Music Awards Himself Producer of the Year Won [66]
Songwriter of the Year Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards "Let's Fall in Love for the Night" Best Alternative Nominated [67]

Notes

  1. ↑ Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.

References

  1. ↑ Donelson, Marcy. "Finneas O'Connell". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  2. ↑ Hissong, Samantha; Spanos, Brittany (July 30, 2020). "Billie Eilish Drops 'My Future' in Time for Finneas' Birthday". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Finneas". AllMusic. AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  4. ↑ "FINNEAS". Spotify. Spotify. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Family affair: Billie Eilish, Finneas win big at Grammys". Associated Press. January 27, 2020. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Finneas O'Connell". April 22, 2021. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Shaffer, Claire (August 22, 2019). "Finneas Previews Debut EP 'Blood Harmony' With New Song 'Shelter'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Talking with Maggie Baird and Finneas O'Connell". Your Teen Magazine. September 18, 2015. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  9. ↑ Abldor, Jen (April 11, 2019). "Billie Eilish's Brother, Finneas O'Connell, Was On "Glee" And I Can't Believe I Just Realized That". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Sibling Revelry: Finneas, Billie Eilish's Brother & Co-Writer, Steps Out". Billboard. March 27, 2019. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Maggie Baird". The Groundlings Theatre & School. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  12. 1 2 "Is Billie Eilish Really That "Weird"?". BuzzFeed News. August 17, 2019. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  13. ↑ Power, Ed. "An Interview with Billie Eilish: Pop's Ferocious New Enigma | Hotpress". Hotpress. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Meet FINNEAS, Billie Eilish's Big Brother and Your New Music Crush". Bullett Media. October 26, 2017. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ Mawdsley, Melinda (May 15, 2015). "Fruita grad's indy film garners acclaim". Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  16. 1 2 Almeida, Nicole (April 27, 2018). "Wholehearted Obsession: A Conversation with FINNEAS". Atwood Magazine. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  17. ↑ "How Billie Eilish's "Ocean Eyes" Turned Her Into an Overnight Sensation". Teen Vogue. February 24, 2017. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Billie Eilish's 'Don't Smile at Me' Hits New High". Billboard. June 7, 2018. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Billie Eilish Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Billie Eilish makes chart history with debut album". Consequence of Sound. April 8, 2019. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Finneas O'Connell". GRAMMY.com. November 26, 2019. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Mason Coutinho Shares his Love of Performing and how he Uses his Talents for Good". YAYOMG!. December 17, 2018. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  23. ↑ Roth, Madeline (October 23, 2019). "SELENA GOMEZ RETURNS AS A STRONGER VERSION OF HERSELF IN 'LOSE YOU TO LOVE ME'". MTV. Archived from the original on January 6, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  24. ↑ Hobson, Jeremy (November 5, 2019). "FINNEAS, Billie Eilish's Brother, Steps Out From Behind The Scenes With 1st Solo Album". WBUR. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  25. ↑ D'Souza, Shaad (December 5, 2019). "Camila Cabello drops Romance, feat DaBaby, Shawn Mendes, Finneas". The Fader. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  26. ↑ Castel, Gregory. "Ashe writes the perfect anthem for broken relationships in "Moral of the Story"". Earmilk. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  27. ↑ Aswad, Jem (December 4, 2019). "Billie Eilish and Her Brother and Co-Writer, Finneas, Get Deep About Their Music and What's Next". Variety. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  28. ↑ Del Rosario, Alexandra (March 3, 2021). "'The Fallout' Trailer: Jenna Ortega, Maddie Ziegler & Niles Fitch Kindle Healing Friendship In SXSW Drama". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  29. ↑ "In Battles of the Bands, The Slightlys Keep Winning (VIDEO)". LA Weekly. October 23, 2014. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Who Is Billie Eilish's Brother Finneas O'Connell?". Seventeen. December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  31. ↑ "[PREMIERE] FINNEAS: 'New Girl' – WE FOUND NEW MUSICWE FOUND NEW MUSIC". wefoundnewmusic.com. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  32. ↑ FINNEAS (February 4, 2019), FINNEAS – NEW GIRL (Official Music Video), archived from the original on February 4, 2019, retrieved April 8, 2019
  33. ↑ Bronson, Kevin (January 30, 2019). "Finneas' fans fall in love for the night at the Troubadour". buzzbands.la. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  34. ↑ Fernando, Madeleine (June 25, 2019). "Finneas Unveils Gorgeous Sunset Video For 'I Lost a Friend'". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 25, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  35. ↑ Burks, Tosten (August 22, 2019). "Here's What Billie Eilish's Brothers Music Sounds Like". Spin. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  36. ↑ Mamo, Heran (September 20, 2019). "Finneas Selfishly Reminds His Ex 'I Don't Miss You At All' in New Upbeat Single". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  37. ↑ "Finneas O'Connell releases new single What They'll Say About Us". Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  38. ↑ Corcoran, Nina (October 21, 2020). "FINNEAS Gets Real on New Song "Can't Wait To Be Dead": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  39. ↑ Tan, Emily (October 21, 2020). "FINNEAS Struggles With the Internet on 'Can't Wait to Be Dead'". Spin. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  40. ↑ Mamo, Heran (March 2, 2021). "Finneas & Ashe Embrace an Unshakable Love in 'Till Forever Fall Apart' Duet". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  41. ↑ Blistein, Jon (March 2, 2021). "Ashe and Finneas Team Up for Epic Duet 'Till Forever Falls Apart'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  42. ↑ Minsker, Evan (August 5, 2021). "Finneas Announces Debut Album Optimist, Shares Video for New Song: Watch". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  43. ↑ Goldstein, Gary (October 16, 2014). "When it's 'Life Inside Out', they turn to music". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  44. ↑ "What other TV shows has Finneas O'Connell been in?". Pop Buzz. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
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  46. ↑ "Claudia Sulewski on Instagram: "favorite🌹"". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
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  49. ↑ "UP AND COMING ARTIST FINNEAS DEDICATES HEARTFELT BALLAD 'CLAUDIA' TO GIRLFRIEND CLAUDIA SULEWSKI". Tiger Beat. February 22, 2019. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  50. ↑ Coscarelli, Joe (March 28, 2019). "Billie Eilish Is Not Your Typical 17-Year-Old Pop Star. Get Used to Her". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2020. They were also raised vegetarian and slept in a four-person family bed until Finneas was about 10
  51. ↑ Parket, Lyndsey (April 22, 2020). "Maggie Baird, mother of Billie Eilish and Finneas, talks homeschool advice, fears and hopes for Generation Z, and COVID-19 initiative Support + Feed". Yahoo! Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  52. ↑ Rachel Paige (January 26, 2020). "Billie Eilish's Brother Is Kind Of A Big Deal". Refinery29. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  53. ↑ "Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk (2017) – IMDb". Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2021 – via www.imdb.com.
  54. ↑ "Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry (2021) – IMDb". IMDb. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  55. ↑ Kocan, Liz (September 3, 2021). "Billie Eilish's New Concert Starts Streaming on Disney+ Today—Here's How to Watch". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  56. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (February 8, 2022). "Oscar Nominations: 'The Power Of The Dog', 'Dune' Top List; 'Drive My Car' Among Big Surprises". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
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  60. ↑ Lattanzio, Ryan (December 13, 2021). "2022 Golden Globe Nominations: 'Licorice Pizza,' 'Squid Game,' 'West Side Story,' and More". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  61. ↑ "2020 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominees List". Grammy.com. November 20, 2019. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  62. ↑ "Grammy Nominations 2021". The New York Times. November 24, 2020. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  63. ↑ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. November 23, 2021. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  64. ↑ "All GRAMMY Awards and Nominations for Finneas O'Connell". Grammy.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  65. ↑ Enos, Morgan (November 10, 2023). "2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List". Grammy.com. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  66. ↑ "2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees Revealed: See the Full List". iHeartRadio. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
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