Back in 2020, during the early days of lockdown, Billie Eilish found herself stuck at home in Los Angeles. It was hardly a unique set of circumstances at the time—unless, that is, you were Billie Eilish. Following a whirlwind few years of traveling the world and generally riding the rocket of ascendant superstardom—and coming just a few months after taking home a record-breaking sweep of Grammys—Eilish was forced to take stock of her rapid rise to fame. And on day one of the shelter-in-place order, she decided on something to keep herself occupied: becoming a dog foster carer.
“I reached out to a rescue organization called Angel City Pit Bulls, the same place my brother adopted his dog from,” Eilish explains. “They had a new litter of 10 rescue puppies, and I reached out to them and said that I would be home for two weeks because of this coronavirus before going back on tour, and that I could foster a couple of puppies.”
A few days later, two Pit Bull pups named Jem and Miss Maudie arrived at the doorstep of Eilish’s family home. Oh, and it probably goes without saying, but her break from touring ended up taking a little longer than two weeks. “I fostered them over the summer, and then of course COVID started to grow, and meanwhile, I fell in love with the puppies,” Eilish explains. “There was this little gray one named Jem, and I just thought he was really special and goofy and I knew that I wanted him to be mine—so I adopted him and named him Shark.” (Miss Maudie also ended up finding a new home with a family friend.)
Over the years since, Shark—named, presumably, for his spiky gnashers—has become an integral member of the Eilish-O’Connell clan, spending his days snacking on Eilish’s leftovers, accompanying her to the hair salon, and playing in the yard with Peaches, the female pitbull that belongs to Eilish’s brother Finneas O’Connell and his partner Claudia Sulewski. “He was kind of a little lug, and he had this goofy little mouth with this overbite,” Eilish says of what made her fall in love with Shark during those early months of the pandemic. “I just loved his color and I loved his personality. He’s got these human eyes for sure, and I could picture my life with him.”
And if you don’t recognize Shark’s handsome profile from Eilish’s Instagram, you may be familiar with his bark: as a regular visitor to Eilish and O’Connell’s studio, it would be remiss of them not to allow Shark to contribute to their music-making every so often. Hence why you’ll hear him grunting and sighing if you listen closely to “The Greatest” from Eilish’s latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, or more prominently, the sounds of Shark growling while play-fighting with Peaches as a production quirk on “I Didn’t Change My Number,” from Eilish’s sophomore album Happier Than Ever. “I’m pretty sure it was just a day in COVID that Finneas and I were hanging out and the dogs were running around the yard playing and I recorded them because they sounded insane,” Eilish explains. “They’re very vocal and I thought this sounded really cool. I knew I wanted to use it for something, so we made it the beginning of that song.”
That’s not to say Shark’s contributions to Eilish and O’Connell’s songwriting are always quite so melodic. “He likes to snore really loud and fart during our sessions,” Eilish admits, laughing. But because Shark was fostered at just five weeks old, “he doesn’t know anything other than my life,” she explains—meaning he’s an impressively chill companion while she and O’Connell are recording, either snoozing at their feet while sitting at the computer putting the finishing touches to a new track, or staring up at Eilish as she records her vocal takes.
“He’s such a good boy, so he loves being in the studio when I work,” Eilish adds. “He’s so good with loud noises and overstimulation, he couldn’t care less.” Indeed, at a listening party for Eilish’s latest record, Hit Me Hard and Soft, Shark even took to the stage in front of thousands of fans at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, leaping across the floor of the smoky arena to the album’s closing track “Blue”—and a chorus of cheers from the crowd. “I’ve been making music with him in the room for his whole life, so it’s all he knows—it’s really sweet.”
Clearly, Shark’s moment in the spotlight was long overdue, which is why Eilish jumped at the chance to have him featured on the cover of Vogue. (Well, Dogue at least.) In a shoot at her regular recording studio, Eilish and photographer Tracy Nguyen were inspired both by the atmospheric setup of Shark’s listening party appearance and the distinctive noir-ish blues of Hype Williams’s 1999 cult classic Belly, starring Nas and DMX. And it turns out that while Shark may be a softie at heart, he knows how to go hard for the camera. “I wish that I could take him everywhere with me,” Eilish says after the shoot, with a sigh. “I wish I could take him on my whole tour across the world.”
Below, Billie Eilish and Shark answer Vogue’s Dogue questionnaire—and reveal themselves as true birds of a feather.
Billie
Vogue: What is your dog’s best quality?
Shark is very loyal to me and sticks by my side wherever I go. Even if I have a party, he follows me around into every single room I go. He just always wants to be in the same room as me and I love that. His loyalty is the best, but I love all of his qualities.
Who would voice your dog in a movie?
Me with a dumb voice. With the voice that I give him when I talk to him.
Describe the voice you use to talk to your dog?
I can’t describe it. I talk to him in every voice imaginable.
What is your dog’s weirdest nickname, and how did you come up with it?
He has a lot of nicknames, but the ones that I use the most are runoffs from his name; so its Shark, Chark, Chonk, Bonk, Blonk, Barnk. I like to call him Shark with an N sometimes, so Sharnk or Charnk. I call him a lot of nicknames.
Where is one place you wish you could take your dog?
I’ve always wanted to take him on stage, and I did for my Hit Me Hard and Soft album release event in LA. Because he’s so good with loud noises and overstimulation, he was perfect. But I wish that I could take him everywhere with me. I wish I could take him on my whole tour across the world.
Where is the strangest place you’ve taken your dog?
I take him to the hair salon. I take him to CVS and the bookstore. We went to a vinyl shop the other day.
If you could tell your dog one thing, what would it be?
I just want to tell him that I love him so much.
What is the most human thing your dog does?
Shark is very human-like and he has little to no dog qualities. Human-wise…with new people or strangers, he’s not interested in them, but then once he gets to know somebody, he really loves them. It takes him actually getting to know someone to be able to be himself around them. And it takes time for him to warm up to people, not in a negative way, but once he does trust you and warm up to you it’s very cute because then you know that he really likes you.
What is the most dog thing your dog does?
He likes to bury any kind of bone, but it s not even dog-like. It’s more as if a human had to be a dog and didn’t really know how to bury a bone—that’s how he is. He tried to bury a bone in my band member’s guitar case yesterday. He tried to dig a nest and bury a bone into the guitar case.
What is your animal welfare charity of choice?
Shark
What is your full name?
Shark B. Ever since I was a puppy I’ve been called Shark B or Sharky B. I guess it started from Sharky baby or Shark baby, but it’s just Shark B.
Astrological sign?
I’m an Aquarius.
Favorite toy?
There’s a toy called a flirt pole that’s like a big giant cat toy. It’s a long pole with a rope and a little toy on the end of it. My mom uses it like a fishing rod and I run around her and jump. I love it so much.
Favorite meal?
Anything my mom eats and then gives me a piece of. I like all foods.
Worst habit?
I literally can’t do anything else if I see a squirrel. It’s like the world disappears, my mom disappears, my friends disappear. I can’t focus on anything else. It s literally like everybody’s gone and it’s just me and the squirrel. Also, I cry at every closed door. I can’t have any doors closed, even if they just lead to a closet or a bathroom, I need them to be open.
Strangest habit?
When I need to get comfortable I will find either a place on the couch or a blanket on my bed where I spin around and paw at whatever I’m on. And I’ll squeal while I’m doing that and spin and spin and spin. And then I dig and dig and dig and spin and spin and squeal and squeal until I get comfortable.
If you could talk, what would your catchphrase be?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! hey!
What is your human’s worst habit?
My mother’s worst habit is forgetting to give me all the treats.
