Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Finneas O'Connell expresses profound sadness over the devastating wildfires consuming his hometown of Los Angeles. He recounts the destruction witnessed through social media and prepares to return to the city, facing the grim reality of the aftermath. Despite recent success in his music and film career, Finneas remains deeply connected to his roots and mourns the loss of his beloved community.
For Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Finneas O'Connell, witnessing the devastating wildfires tearing through his hometown of Los Angeles this week has been a deeply unsettling experience. O'Connell, known by his mononym Finneas, had just completed a solo tour of Australia when the news of the widespread destruction hit. 'We're all headed back to LA in two days and I still don't think I'm probably prepared for whatever I'm going to see,' he shared.
'So many houses of people I love burned down in the last four days.'The musician expressed profound sadness over the loss of entire communities. 'There's whole communities that I love — Altadena is a place I go all the time, and there's whole streets of restaurants and bicycle repair shops and cafes that have all burned down. It's really tragic and terrible,' he lamented. Born in Los Angeles in 1997, four years before his sister and frequent collaborator, global pop sensation Billie Eilish, Finneas has witnessed the city's evolution and cherished its vibrant atmosphere. While he and Eilish rose to global fame with her debut album 'When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' in 2019, winning multiple Grammy Awards and cementing Finneas's status as a sought-after music producer, their collaborations extend beyond music. Together, they have achieved significant success in film, winning two Academy Awards for Best Original Song for 'No Time to Die' in 2022 and 'What Was I Made For?' in 2024 from the James Bond and Barbie soundtracks respectively. Despite their accolades, Finneas remains grounded. 'Those things were barely on the wish list,' he admitted. 'To me, the great wish was to get to make music and not have to work at a job I hated, whether that would make me a lot of money or not. I just wanted to make music for a living.' Finneas has had a string of successes, including the hit single 'Bad Guy,' co-written for and performed by Billie Eilish, which earned Record and Song of the Year at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Notably, he found inspiration for the track while listening to the sound of a pedestrian traffic light in Sydney. However, this recent trip to Australia didn't spark the same creative fire. 'I haven't heard something so far that I'm like, 'Oh, I've got to go use that,' but I do record sound all the time,' he confessed. Despite his success writing and producing for others, Finneas is a talented performer in his own right, recently embarking on a solo tour to promote his second album, 'For Cryin' Out Loud!.'He revels in performing in Australia, noting that the album's title track has resonated deeply with audiences. 'I feel like you measure the resonance of a song with the audience with how many people put their phones up to film you. So it's been a treat to see how much people are enjoying that song,' he shared. With his touring schedule keeping him busy, Finneas expressed excitement for future exploration and continued musical endeavors. 'Getting to tour and play cities I've been to and loved, places I've never been — I'm excited to explore, just keeping it going,' he concluded
FINNEAS WILDFIRES LOS ANGELES MUSICIAN AUSTRALIA TOUR BILLIE EILISH ACADEMY AWARDS GRAMMY AWARDS
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