Billie Eilish is safely the world's biggest Gen Z pop star and generally revered as a generational talent, but even she has had to face a learning curve when it comes to crucial music history — namely, where U2 are from.
On the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, hosted by The Office actors (and real-life besties) Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, Eilish admitted that the comedy series had convinced her that the notably Irish, Bono-fronted band were actually from Scranton, PA, and she didn't learn the truth until she visited Ireland last June.
"Starting to watch The Office at a really young age, I almost didn't understand any reference whatsoever," the singer-songwriter and known super-fan of the TV series explained. "There's so many things that are said, especially by Michael [Scott, played by Steve Carell], in The Office that he says wrong on purpose, were written on purpose that, I didn't even know the real word. So I said many words wrong because I learned them from Michael Scott."
According to Eilish, the "worst one" of these bits of comedic misinformation was her belief that U2 were from Scranton (where the US version of The Office is set), thanks to a Season 4 episode entitled "Goodbye, Toby Part 1."
"I blame John [Krasinski] for this," she said, referencing a conversation between his character, Jim Halpert, and Carell's Michael, where the latter is making a mixtape for his new love interest Holly (Amy Ryan). Michael asks Jim, "Hey, what's the group that was from Scranton that made it big? Was that U2?" Naturally, Jim chooses not to correct his boss and simply says "Yes."
"There's no pause, there's no laugh," Eilish continued. "Honestly, in my head, I thought Jim thought, 'Oh, that's a stupid question,' because obviously, they're the band that made it big from Scranton… I thought that was the vibe instead of no, not at all. Their whole thing is that they're Irish!"
It would take that fated trip to U2's actual homeland for the pop star to finally be set straight, as she recounted to Kinsey and Fischer:
I'm in my hotel and I get flowers delivered to my room and it has a little letter on it and it's this really, really sweet letter and it says "From Bono." And I was like, "Why would Bono, who's from Scranton... Why would he send me something in Ireland? What does this have to do with him?" And it was like, "Welcome to my hometown" or something like that. But U2 is from Scranton. I kept asking everyone like, "What is Bono doing sending me flowers all the way across the world? Why would he do that?" They were like, "Billie, what are you talking about? They're Irish." I was like "No they're not."
You can listen to the full episode of the podcast below. You might even learn something new!
On the latest episode of the Office Ladies podcast, hosted by The Office actors (and real-life besties) Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, Eilish admitted that the comedy series had convinced her that the notably Irish, Bono-fronted band were actually from Scranton, PA, and she didn't learn the truth until she visited Ireland last June.
"Starting to watch The Office at a really young age, I almost didn't understand any reference whatsoever," the singer-songwriter and known super-fan of the TV series explained. "There's so many things that are said, especially by Michael [Scott, played by Steve Carell], in The Office that he says wrong on purpose, were written on purpose that, I didn't even know the real word. So I said many words wrong because I learned them from Michael Scott."
According to Eilish, the "worst one" of these bits of comedic misinformation was her belief that U2 were from Scranton (where the US version of The Office is set), thanks to a Season 4 episode entitled "Goodbye, Toby Part 1."
"I blame John [Krasinski] for this," she said, referencing a conversation between his character, Jim Halpert, and Carell's Michael, where the latter is making a mixtape for his new love interest Holly (Amy Ryan). Michael asks Jim, "Hey, what's the group that was from Scranton that made it big? Was that U2?" Naturally, Jim chooses not to correct his boss and simply says "Yes."
"There's no pause, there's no laugh," Eilish continued. "Honestly, in my head, I thought Jim thought, 'Oh, that's a stupid question,' because obviously, they're the band that made it big from Scranton… I thought that was the vibe instead of no, not at all. Their whole thing is that they're Irish!"
It would take that fated trip to U2's actual homeland for the pop star to finally be set straight, as she recounted to Kinsey and Fischer:
I'm in my hotel and I get flowers delivered to my room and it has a little letter on it and it's this really, really sweet letter and it says "From Bono." And I was like, "Why would Bono, who's from Scranton... Why would he send me something in Ireland? What does this have to do with him?" And it was like, "Welcome to my hometown" or something like that. But U2 is from Scranton. I kept asking everyone like, "What is Bono doing sending me flowers all the way across the world? Why would he do that?" They were like, "Billie, what are you talking about? They're Irish." I was like "No they're not."
You can listen to the full episode of the podcast below. You might even learn something new!
