The clock was nearing midnight when Billie Eilish took the stage at FireAid to thunderous applause. “Thank you for having me,” she said as she sat on a stool alongside her brother Finneas. “I’m very, very lucky to be here. This is my brother. We’re going to do some little acoustic songs, so it’ll be pretty quiet and chill. So if you wanna sit or whatever…”
The siblings then kicked off their laidback set with “Wildflower,” and then broke out a tender rendition of “The Greatest” before wrapping up with stripped-down version of “Birds of a Feather.”
“It feels really hopeful and good in here,” Eilish said right before playing the last song. “I just feel honored to be here. It’s a really, really scary time and it’s been so devastating. L.A. is my favorite place in the world and my only home. We grew up here, and I care about it so much. It’s the greatest place in the world. It’s been so, so devastating what’s going on. To everyone, we love you. We will not forget about you. We will keep doing this for you.”
Eilish grew up in Los Angeles and has been active in rebuilding and funding efforts. When the fires first broke out, she linked to the Los Angeles Fire Department in her Instagram stories, writing, “What’s going on in LA right now is sooo scary and devastating.”
Eilish ended up performing twice at FireAid. Earlier in the night, she helped Green Day open the show at the Kia Forum. She joined the band onstage to sing the American Idiot deep cut “Last Night on Earth,” which kicked off their set. “I’m here to honor you,” they sang, “If I lose everything in the fire/I’m sendin’ all my love to you.”
Other performers at the benefit included Joni Mitchell, Nirvana, Stevie Nicks, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jelly Roll and Peso Pluma. The live shows were streaming live at select AMC Theaters, iHeartRadio, Apple Music, Netflix, Paramount+, Prime Video, Max, SiriusXM, SoundCloud, Veeps and YouTube.
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