Watch Billie Eilish perform ‘Lunch’ and talk suffering for her art on Colbert

Billie Eilish has opened up about suffering for her art, and performed her song ‘Lunch‘ on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

• READ MORE: Billie Eilish – ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ review: bold, brilliant and somewhat brighter

The singer appeared on the late-night talk show last night (May 21) and spoke about the creation of the artwork for her album ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft‘. The cover sees her sinking in water with an open white door above her.

She revealed that in order to get the shot, she was fully dressed in layers of clothing with a weight strapped on to her to keep her down in a 10 foot tub of water. she also shared that it was all her idea.

Explaining the process, Eilish said: “I need to suffer.” Colbert then went on to as her “Do you feel like for your art, it needs to be somehow excruciating or push you to the limit?”

“I don’t think that it has to, but honestly, you know what it really is, its not like ‘What can I do that will be the most uncomfortable thing that I could possibly dream of?’ It’s more that I think about the visual before I think about how it’s going to make me feel,” she responded.

“So I’m like okay, I want to be fully dressed, underwater, eyes opened, upside down and then I deal with how horrible it is,” she added. “I didn’t have a nose plug so I was basically waterboarding myself for like six hours.”

Colbert then asked about the image on the LP cover and what it meant to her. “A lot of the inspiration for the visuals on this album were like optical illusions type things, like things that make you question it or think about it for longer. I wanted it to make you think,” she explained.

Eilish then went on to perform her song ‘Lunch’ on the show, giving it its first televised performance.

In other news, Eilish recently revealed that she cried after performing her new song ‘The Greatest’ for the first time.

She opened up to Radio 1‘s Jack Saunders (via Music News) about watching the album come to life. She told Saunders that she became emotional performing ‘The Greatest’, the record’s sixth track, at her show in Los Angeles last week (May 16).

“The count-in happened and I was sitting there on the edge of the stage in front of this tiny crowd and I was like, ‘Woah, I’ve never done this one before’ and it’s really one of my hardest.” she recounted.

“I love that song so much. That song is really, really special to me. I literally performed it the other day and cried after.”

NME praised ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft‘ in a four-star review, writing: “Billie came into this process with aspirations to find herself, creatively and personally: ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ remains distinctly unique, a portrait of a singular talent entering young adulthood, exploring her queerness and experiencing the emotional thrill and (sometimes) catastrophe of chasing passion or falling in love.

“In trying to write an album for herself, she’s made one that will resonate harder than anything she’s done before.”

She announced a huge world tour for 2024 and 2025, where she will stop by the UK in July next year. See dates below and visit here to purchase US tickets, here for UK tickets, here for European tickets and here for Australian tickets.

Billie Eilish ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ 2024/25 world tour dates are: 

SEPTEMBER 2024
29 – Québec, QC – Centre Videotron

OCTOBER 2024
1 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
2 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
4 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
5 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
7 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
9 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
11 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
13 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
16 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
17 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
18 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

NOVEMBER 2024
2 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
3 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
6 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
8 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center
10 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
11 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
13 – Chicago, IL – United Center
14 – Chicago, IL – United Center
16 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
17 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center Omaha
19 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
20 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena

DECEMBER 2024
3 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
5 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
6 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
8 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
10 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose
11 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose
13 – Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena
15 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum
16 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum
17 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum

FEBRUARY 2025 
18 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
19 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
21 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
22 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
24 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
25 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
27 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
28 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena

MARCH 2025
4 –Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
5 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
7 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
8 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena

APRIL 2025
23 – Stockholm, Sweden – Avicii Arena
24 – Stockholm, Sweden – Avicii Arena
26– Oslo, Norway – Telenor Arena
28 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
29 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena

MAY 2025
2 – Hannover, Germany – ZAG Arena
4 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
5 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
7 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
9 – Berlin, Germany – Uber Arena
29 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
30 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena

JUNE 2025 
1 – Prague, Czech Republic – O2 Arena
3 – Kraków, Poland – Tauron Arena
4 – Kraków, Poland – Tauron Arena
6 – Vienna, Austria – Stadthalle
8 – Bologna, Italy – Unipol Arena
10 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
11 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
14 – Barcelona, Spain – Palau Sant Jordi
15 –Barcelona, Spain – Palau Sant Jordi

JULY 2025 
7 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
8 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
10 – London, UK – The O2
11 –London, UK – The O2
13 – London, UK – The O2
14– London, UK – The O2
16 – London, UK – The O2
17 – London, UK – The O2
19 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
20 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
22 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
23 – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
26 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
27 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena

In other news, Eilish has dropped a surprise extended edit of ‘L’Amour De Ma Vie’.