Zane Lowe says Billie Eilish could be the biggest star of 2019. Photo/Getty
Kiwi DJ Zane Lowe has made his prediction for who will become the year's biggest star - and she's someone well known to Kiwis.
In an interview with NME, Lowe predicted that Billie Eilish - a regular performer in New Zealand - would blow up this year.
"You can't talk about 2019 without mentioning Billie Eilish," said Lowe, who helms Apple Music Beats 1 radio show offerings.
"The new music is incredible. It's hers for the taking. She's very much an artist of now."
Eilish has performed twice in New Zealand: at the Tuning Fork during a promotional tour in 2017, and at last year's Laneway Festival.
She was due to perform at Laneway again at the end of this month, but recently pulled out, citing scheduling conflicts.
"Hi my loves, unfortunately we all came to realize recently that we need some more time to finish something very important before going back out and doing more shows," she wrote.
"I love you all and I'm so sorry about this :( I promise you I will be back in australia and new zealand before you know it. my love to youuu all."
Eilish, 17, was recently confirmed as one of the biggest names on the Coachella music festival announcement, placed on the second tier below the headliners, Tame Impala, on the Saturday night.
She has released one EP of darkened pop, and made a number of guest appearances as well as duets with another young star, Khalid.
Lowe also picked Tierra Whack, Dominic Fike, DYSN, Conan Gray and Melii to make waves in 2019.
The Australian site cited a 'heightened threat level' as the issue.