Billie Eilish is no stranger to heartbreak — her latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft is full of it.
But this week in Paris, Eilish turned the emotion up another notch with a surprise cover that left fans reeling.
Midway through her set at Accor Arena on Tuesday, the nine-time Grammy winner stripped things back for a delicate, achingly beautiful rendition of Paramore’s “The Only Exception”.
The ballad, from Paramore’s 2009 album Brand New Eyes, is one of the band’s most emotionally raw moments, and Eilish handled it with quiet reverence. Seated at the centre of the stage under a soft spotlight, she delivered the verses with her signature whispery falsetto as thousands of voices joined in on the chorus.
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The moment wasn’t just a one-off; Eilish has a history with Paramore, both personally and professionally. In 2023, she joined the band onstage in Los Angeles for a surprise duet of “All I Wanted”.
A year before that, Hayley Williams made a surprise appearance during Eilish’s Coachella headlining set, jumping in for an acoustic version of “Misery Business” and providing backing vocals on “Happier Than Ever”.
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Williams has spoken openly about her admiration for Eilish. “We got a head start on the culture that is the internet now, and the fast-paced life that artists and people are living,” she told Zane Lowe in 2020.
“If I were Billie Eilish today — and granted she’s on a rocket that’s going so much higher than I would have ever even dreamed for Paramore — if that were me I would be insane and [struggle]. I am so happy there’s someone like her who has great, really cool family around her.”
The Paris performance follows Eilish’s recent cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” during a show in Amsterdam — a nod to one of her biggest musical influences: Eilish and her brother/producer Finneas have often cited Radiohead as a key inspiration for the moody sonic textures on Hit Me Hard and Soft.
After wrapping the European leg of her tour in July, Eilish will head to Japan for two shows in August, before returning to the US in October for dates in Miami, Charlotte, Long Island, New Orleans, Austin, Phoenix and San Francisco.
She wrapped the Australian leg back in February and March, with packed-out shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
