Katy Perry Regrets Not Working With Billie Eilish On “Ocean Eyes”

In another life, “Ocean Eyes” could’ve been very, very different; it could’ve involved Katy Perry. The “Roar” singer recently revealed one of her big career regrets. And it was passing on an opportunity years ago to work with Billie Eilish.

On Jan. 27, Los Angeles radio station 102.7 KIIS-FM posted a TikTok of Perry appearing to speak to an audience. Holding a mic, the American Idol judge revealed she received an email about the then-unknown singer from a former colleague at Unsub Records, the Capitol Music Group-owned label she founded in 2014. “She sent me an email one time that was, ‘Hey check out this new artist. I’d really like us to work with her,’” Perry shared, though she didn’t reveal the sender’s name. “And it was a song called ‘Ocean Eyes.’”

Unfortunately, she wasn’t all that impressed back then. Perry continued, “She was just a blonde girl and I was like, ‘Meh boring.’” Though the extent of how Perry could’ve worked with the young singer is unclear, Perry called the pass a “mistake.” She said, “Big mistake. Huge mistake. Don’t let this hit the internet.”

Eilish eventually released the song that would launch her career on SoundCloud in 2015, during her early teens. A year later, she debuted a music video for her single. Neither the song nor the artist went to Perry’s Unsub, with Eilish eventually signing with Darkroom and Interscope Records.

Since the song’s release, Eilish has gone on to break records. She’s won seven Grammys, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar in 2022 for Best Original Song, among others. She also released two studio albums — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2019, and Happier Than Ever in 2021.

In 2019, years after saying no, Perry finally met the “Bad Guy” singer when the then-17-year-old made her Coachella debut. The meeting was caught on camera and released in the 2021 Apple TV+ documentary, Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry.

The “Firework” singer, who was with her fiancé Orlando Bloom, was introduced to Eilish backstage and Perry was visibly excited. “I gotta confess — I’m a huge fan obviously — but my fiancé who doesn’t listen to music, he literally would only play you in the car,” she told the “lovely” singer. Bloom chimed in with his song of choice, “Bad Guy,” before singing bits of the chorus. “So proud of you,” the Lord of the Rings star added, enveloping Eilish in a hug. “Thank you, bro,” she told Bloom in response.

Perry then told Eilish that if she ever needed to talk, she was available. “I love you and I wanted to say it’s gonna be wild for 10 years, it’s gonna be crazy so if you ever wanna talk because it’s a weird ride.”

Apparently, Eilish had no idea who Bloom was and thought he was “just some dude” Perry met.

Eilish brother and frequent collaborator, Finneas, can be seen in a later clip explaining that Bloom “played Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean.” Eilish was aghast. “That guy? That was him?” she asked before adding, “He kissed me on the cheek. Bring him back I wanna meet him again. I did not know that was him I thought that was just some dude Katy Perry met.”

Looks like Eilish also has someone who got away. And it just happens to be Legolas.