Katy Perry has admitted it was a “huge mistake” not to consider signing Billie Eilish to a record deal when she had a chance.
During a Q&A session at an event in Los Angeles, Perry recalled learning about Eilish from a colleague at her label Unsub Records.
“She sent me an email one time that was, ‘Hey, check out this new artist. I’d really like us to work with her,” the pop star said in a clip shared on TikTok by iHeartRadio station 102.7 KIIS FM. (Contrary to many media reports, there was no talk of a collaboration.)
“It was a song called ‘Ocean Eyes’ and it was just a blonde girl and it was like, meh, boring.”
As the audience laughed, Perry’s eyes widened. “Big mistake,” she said. “Huge mistake.” She then joked: “Don't let this hit the Internet.”
@1027kiisfm #KatyPerry tells the story of first hearing #BillieEilish’s Ocean Eyes! #oceaneyes #oceaneyesbillieeilish #katyperryfan #losangeles ♬ original sound - 102.7 KIIS FM
“Ocean Eyes,” written and produced by Eilish’s brother Finneas for his band Slightlys, was released on SoundCloud in November 2015.
Eilish went on to sign with Darkroom and Interscope Records in August 2016 and the song got a commercial release three months later.
In Eilish’s 2021 documentary The World’s A Little Blurry, she is seen meeting Perry backstage at the 2019 Coachella festival. “Congrats, I'm so proud of you," Perry told her. "I wanted to say, this is going to be wild for 10 years. If you ever wanna talk… ‘cause it's a weird ride.”