Topics: Billie Eilish, Music, Social Media, US News, Instagram
As 2024 draws to an end, we've been looking back on some of the world's most bizarre and viral moments.
And one that instantly sprang to mind, was when US chart-topper Billie Eilish bagged a staggering 8 million Instagram followers in a single day, just for posting one simple Story online.
The month was April.
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Lana Del Ray, Tyler The Creator, Doja Cat and No Doubt had just headlined Coachella Festival, Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson had just shared a first look and their newborn baby, and an earthquake shook New York.
In other news, 115 million of Billie Eilish's followers woke up to find that they'd been added to the 'What Was I Made For?' singer's 'Close Friends' list on Instagram.
That's right, a very select few of the 23-year-old hitmaker's most-adoring fans gained first-hand access to exclusive clips and pics posted by the nine-time Grammy-Award winning singer.
It was on her elite social media 'Story', that Billie first teased her then-upcoming album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, which contained tracks like 'Birds of a Feather' and 'Skinny'.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of 'Close Friends', the picture-sharing Meta site allows you to use different levels of sharing content.
And if, like Billie, your account is public - as opposed to private - then you'll be able to create a special edition list of followers, with whom you'll be able to share your own batch of exclusive content.
As well as teasing her new work, she also shared a snap of a brand new tattoo she'd received, and a sweet photo of the night sky.
Within a matter of hours, the hashtag #billieeilishclosefriends was trending on Twitter, with hundreds of users taking to the social media app to question why and how exactly they'd been added.
Sharing a screengrab online at the time, one fan teased: "Mom: why is billie eilish at your wedding??' me: that's my bestie."
A second went on to share a snap of YouTube icon Trisha Paytas eating with a cardboard cut out, comedically captioning it: "Me and Billie Eilish after she added me to her close friends."
On another GIF of Peaky Blinders actor Cillian Murphy winning his Oscar at this year's ceremony, another captioned it: "How I feel after seeing myself in Billie Eilish’s instagram close friends."
A fourth joked: "Opening instagram and pretending that billie eilish personally put me on her close friends list."
According to analytics, the musician received a 'follow' from 8 million fans that day.
All in a days work for our Billie!
