Tom Odell says a 2016 concert he considered a disappointment played a surprising role in launching the careers of Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell.
Odell, whose song "Another Love" is among his most-streamed tracks, recalled feeling dissatisfied with his performance at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, saying he was "frustrated" and did not think the show had gone as he wanted. A few months earlier the then-18-year-old O'Connell and his sister had uploaded a demo to SoundCloud; the pair were in the audience that night and, Odell says, the way his band and songs were presented helped shape their approach to performing and releasing music.
Finneas later acknowledged the influence publicly. Speaking on stage in Manchester this April while on his first UK solo tour, he said he had already been a fan but that Odell's show was the reason he wanted to start putting out music under his own name. "I credit that show as being the reason I wanted to start putting out music under my own name," Finneas said, according to accounts of the performance. Odell, who attended the Manchester show, said he was moved by the acknowledgement.
The exchange highlights the often-unseen ripple effects of live performances. Odell has had commercial success with "Another Love," which has become one of the most-streamed songs of recent years and has been used widely on social platforms such as TikTok, including in clips tied to anti-government protests in Iran. Despite that reach, Odell has described moments on stage he regards as failures, illustrating that artists' assessments of their own work can diverge sharply from how it influences others.
Observers note the serendipitous nature of musical influence: an act that an artist deems subpar can nonetheless provide a model or catalyst for younger performers. In this instance, Finneas and Billie Eilish went on to achieve international recognition, with Finneas also establishing a solo career and continuing to produce and collaborate.
Odell's recollection of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery show and Finneas's later comments in Manchester form part of a broader narrative about mentorship, inspiration and the circuits through which musical ideas and practices are transmitted. The anecdote underscores how single performances can have lasting effects on listeners and future creators, even when the performer remembers the night unfavourably.
Both Odell and the O'Connells have continued to work in music since 2016. The story stands as a reminder that influence in popular music frequently flows through informal encounters and live shows, contributing to the emergence of new artists and new approaches to songwriting and performance.