Vegan Singer Billie Eilish Sweeps Grammy Awards With Historic Wins

2020’s award season belongs to vegan artists.

On the heels of Joaquin Phoenix’s back-to-back wins at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards for his role in “Joker,” 18-year-old vegan singer and songwriter Billie Eilish just made Grammys history. She is only the second artist ever to win for Best New Artist, Best Song and Best Record (“Bad Guy”), and Album of the Year (“When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?”). Christopher Cross won all four in 1981 for his hit “Sailing” and his eponymous release. She was the youngest musician to win Best New Artist since Mariah Carey took the prize in 1991.

At just 18, Eilish has become a household name, and not just for her music. The outspoken teen is vocal about age, gender, and animal rights issues. Raised vegetarian, Eilish went vegan at 14 and frequently speaks out against animal cruelty, using her social platforms to condemn animal agriculture.

When she was just 16, the LA native joined the city’s mayor in encouraging her fans to register to vote. “[T]eenagers know more about the country that we’re living in right now than anybody,” she told NME last year.

Vegan Teens Reign Supreme

She’s not the only vegan teen making waves. TIME Magazine’s 2019 person of the year was seventeen-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. She’s sparked a global movement with her Fridays for Future protests calling on world leaders to take immediate steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“The world is ending and I honestly don’t understand the law that says you have to be older to vote, because they’re going to die soon and we’ll have to deal with it. That doesn’t make any sense to me,” Eilish told NME. “But to see young people taking part in peaceful protests and not obeying is beautiful.”

Eilish made a statement on the Grammy’s red carpet, defying fashion stereotypes while clad in a neon green Gucci tracksuit jogging pant and a baggy bowling shirt over a lime green turtleneck with puffed sleeves. She also sported custom emerald sneakers studded with green crystals.

Eilish appeared in a viral video last year with fellow vegan, actor Woody Harrelson. They were urging fans to take action for the climate, namely by reducing waste, plastic use, and  curbing meat and dairy consumption.

Unlike Phoenix, who’s been vegan since he was just three-years-old, Eilish did not use the podium to promote her causes. After the Golden Globes’ last-minute decision to shift its entire menu to plant-based, Phoenix thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press for making the link between animal agriculture and climate change. He called the decision a “bold move.” Earlier this month after receiving his best actor win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, he headed over to a pig vigil in Los Angeles, calling pig slaughter an “injustice.”