At what age did Billie Eilish sing in a choir? Singer gave a shout-out to her chorus teacher in her Oscar speech

Billie Eilish was homeschooled alongside his brother in a family where everyone had a musical affinity. The Ocean Eyes singer, who made her musical debut at the age of 13, shared in an August 2016 Vogue interview that she had been a member of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus since she was eight years old.

Eilish also attributed all her "singing technique(s)" to the Chorus, further saying:

"It's helped me learn the proper way to sing and not ruin my voice completely."

Elsewhere in the interview, when the singer-songwriter was asked about her experience of performing live with her brother, she revealed how she had always been a performer because of being in the choir. Billie Eilish also credited dancing and acting in plays since childhood for her early exposure to performing live.

The impact that being a member of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus left on her became apparent as the Oscar-winner gave a shout-out to her chorus teacher in her acceptance speech at the 96th Academy Awards earlier this year.

---

Billie Eilish thanked Ms. Brigham for believing in her in Oscar acceptance speech

When Billie Eilish and Finneas were announced winners of the Best Original Song award at the 2024 Oscars, the singer-songwriter started off her acceptance speech saying, "I had a nightmare about it last night."

Thereafter, having extended her gratitude to Greta Gerwig - the director of Barbie - their parents, and friends, Eilish thanked her choir teacher, saying:

"Ms. Brinham, thanks for believing in me. Ms. T, you didn't like me but you were good at your job."

In an interview with The Hollywood Report on March 14, 2024, Mandy Brigham, Eilish's now-retired choir teacher shared how she was "flabbergasted" at being Eilish's shout-out, and had never expected anything like that. The teacher then confessed:

"I wasn't watching the Oscars [when it happened]. I was at the tennis matches at the Indians Wells Open. And then I started to get text messages. More text messages than I'd ever received in my life."

Ms. Brigham then added how grateful she felt at Eilish remembering her belief in her, further saying, "that's the ultimate compliment for a teacher."

---

Eilish participated in tribute video compiled for Brigham's retirement in 2023

Mandy Brigham talked to People magazine shortly after her mention in Billie Eilish's Oscars acceptance speech, on March 16, 2024, recalling the bad guy singer's time as a student:

"As I got to know her, I just realized how much she loves singing. She always sang beautifully in tune, which is a gift to a choir director because you can place that person somewhere and know that others will follow their lead."

Ms. Bringham also witnessed Eilish's freshly sparked interest in songwriter while she studied at the choir, saying:

"From an early age, I recognized her creativity. She's really her own person. When she was a little bit older, she'd have a notebook, and she'd jot down ideas for lyrics and stuff."

While Billie Eilish was in Brigham's choir, they also went on international tours to British Columbia and Japan. By the time they returned from the trip, Eilish's first song had already started gaining traction. The LACC retiree revealed how they were all aware of it and excited for her.

She remarked how, despite gaining global recognition, Billie Eilish still had a rooted personality, which was reflected in her feature of LACC in the Disney+ special concert of Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles. Once, Eilish also paid a surprise visit to the young LACC performers as they were working on a project at the Capitol Records' studio.

"She was so incredibly kind to them, giving out hugs and all that sort of thing. I think that was very, very special and memorable for them."

Billie's choir teacher then talked about Billie and Finneas' words in the tribute video made for her as she retired in 2023 "meant a lot" to her. Brigham also noted that the you should see me in a crown singer's experience at LACC greatly influenced the new joiners, saying:

"They get really excited about Billie being in the choir. When we talk to students at auditions every year, we'll say, 'Well, how did you find out about the chorus?' They said, 'Well, Billie Eilish was in it.'"

Ms. Brigham ended the interview by saying that their goal at the LACC was to train the students to sing beautifully and with a healthy technique, no matter what kind of music they decided to sing, which had "worked really well" for Billie.