Why did Billie Eilish use a body double on stage at Coachella 2022? Singer revealed how "literally nobody knew"

Since the beginning of her career as a singer-songwriter, Billie Eilish has always been a hands-on artist, from featuring in the music videos of her songs to pulling off all the stunts. Whether it's putting a tarantula in her mouth or drinking a black liquid that oozes out her eyes, Eilish is determined to do it all herself.

So it came as a surprise to her fans the Bellyache singer opened up about using a body double on stage at Coachella 2022. Billie Eilish made this revelation when she appeared on Matt Wilkinson's radio show in June 2022.

Eilish talked about how she had one of her dancers dress like her and stand on the festival's stage until her performance started, and "nobody literally knew". The real reason why the then-20-year-old felt the need to do it was so she could roam around in the festival freely instead of simply standing on stage as other artists performed their bits before her performance started.

The episode of Matt Wilkinson's Show with Billie Eilish's interview was released on Apple Music on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

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Billie Eilish admitted to having enjoyed roaming around in Coachella incognito

While talking to Matt Wilkinson on his Radio show a couple of months after her first headlining performance at Coachella, Billie Eilish revealed how she wasn't on the stage for as long as her fans had thought she was. Spilling the beans about how she used a body double to replace her on stage, the Lovely singer said:

"The beginning of Coachella, I had a body double, one of my dancers for the show. I dressed her up in a show look that I had worn before. We got a black wig and we put buns in it and we gave her a mask and sunglasses and she wore my shoes and my socks."

After making her body double look exactly like her so no one would get suspicious, the What Was I Made For? singer switched places with her on-stage and went to roam around Coachella's grounds incognito.

"I put her up at the back of the stage and she stood there while the lights went on and everybody thought it was me. And nobody ever knew it wasn't me, literally nobody knew. And while she's up there, I put on a big black coat and a traffic vest and a hood and just glasses."

The radio show was hosted shortly before Eilish was due to make her debut performance at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2022, where she made history as the youngest headlining artist ever.

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Eilish also talked about debuting an unreleased song on stage on her Happier Than Ever tour

Elsewhere on the Matt Wilkinson talk show, Billie Eilish also talked about her debut performance of TV - an unreleased song - earlier in June. Eilish sang it in the Manchester concert of her Happier Than Ever world tour on June 8. When asked about how the decision to perform it on-stage was, she revealed:

"Our plane was delayed a couple weeks ago and we were sitting outside somewhere, and I was just listening to songs that I have written and never did anything with like all in my phone and my voice memos and stuff. I found a couple songs and I was thinking about these songs that we have written. And I was like, 'Wow, I really love these songs.' I just had this idea of like, 'What if we just did them live?'"

It was a special moment for Billie Eilish, who hadn't debuted any new music live since 2018. She also opened up about how the experience was different from performing released songs, saying:

"I just want to be able to put music out like I used to. I think the bigger you get the harder that seems. So I kind of was like, 'I just want to be able to go back to my roots and be the songwriter that I am and that Finneas is and sing the song that we just wrote and put it out whenever it's done.'"

Following its live debut, Billie Eilish released TV - alongside another track, the 30th - on her YouTube channel as an EP called guitar songs on July 21, 2022.