During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,Billie Eilish was quizzed on her music knowledge. While Eilish recognized the first name Kimmel threw out, she was puzzled when asked if she knew of Van Halen. "Who? No, who is that?" she answered, to which Kimmel added, "I'm going to start crying."
Her comments immediately sparked discussion online, with some deriding the 17-year-old Grammy-nominations record-setter for not knowing about the '80s rock band.
Most people, including Eddie Van Halen's son and current Van Halen touring bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, came to her defense. "If you haven't heard of Billie Eilish, go check her out. She's cool," he tweeted after the subject went viral. "If you haven't heard of Van Halen, go check them out. They're cool too. Music is supposed to bring us together, not divide us. Listen to what you want and don't shame others for not knowing what you like."
Van Halen have only released one album, 2012's A Different Kind of Truth, since Eilish was born in 2001. Meanwhile, as Rolling Stone pointed out, she would have been 13 when they played their most recent show in October 2015. Fans, including Smash Mouth, were quick to defend the pop sensation on Twitter.Â
