Bring Me The Horizon tried to do a song with Billie Eilish, says Oli Sykes: “I can’t say for 100 percent that she listened to it, but I knew it got to her”

(Image credit: Jim Dyson/Redferns | Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Bring Me The Horizon singer Oli Sykes has explained the band’s failed attempt at collaborating with Billie Eilish in a new interview.

Talking to Daniel P. Carter on The Radio 1 Rock Show, Sykes says that the UK pop-metal band were hoping to team up with the pop sensation on the song Limousine, featured on their new album Post Human: Nex Gen.

Sykes teased the collaboration on Instagram weeks ago, commenting the word “limousine” under one of Eilish’s posts, but when the album was surprise-released last Friday (May 24), the guest spot on the song was instead handled by Norwegian singer Aurora.

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“The Billie thing was just: her photographer’s a massive fan, and they kinda mentioned the idea of her doing a song,” Sykes says (via NME).

“So I sent her Limousine. And this was quite a while before it was in its full, finished state. I mean, I can’t say for 100 percent that she listened to it, but I knew it got to her.”

Of the decision to publicly comment on Eilish’s Instagram post with the song title, Sykes adds: “So me thinking that Limousine wouldn’t mean anything to anyone but me and maybe her if she saw the comment, [I] left it on her Instagram, not thinking that a week or two later when we did the tour, we put the file names on our visuals live, and everyone connected it.

“It was one of them things that seemed like such a proper cheap way to try and get some press, but it really wasn’t. I was actually quite embarrassed when I found out – like, ‘Oh god, no!’ Because I knew the chance of Billie doing a song with us was slim to none.”

Bring Me The Horizon are touring this summer to promote Post Human: Nex Gen, starting with a headline slot at Mystic Festival in Gdansk, Poland, on June 8. See further dates and get tickets via their website.

Eilish released her new album, Hit Me Hard And Soft, on May 17.

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.