Teen pop sensation Billie Eilish has unwittingly set the internet on fire by admitting she doesn't know who '80s rock band Van Halen is.
The online debate started after Eilish was grilled on pop culture from decades gone by during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
"Can you name a Van Halen?" Kimmel asked, leaving the 'Bad Guy' singer stumped, before she asked: "Who?"
The 17-year-old struggled through questions about Run DMC and Cabbage Patch Kids before giving up, telling Kimmel: "You're making me look so dumb!"
"It's not a matter of being dumb," Kimmel replied.
"If you ask me questions about 1943, I probably wouldn't know the answers either."
Still, the talk show host's point didn't stop the outrage of the glam metal community, who could not believe their favourite band had been so disrespected.
"Billie Eilish didn't know who Van Halen was, I'm sobbing," one fan wrote.
"I've been listening to Van Halen with my dad since I was a kid. I'm shook."
"Who is Billie Eilish and why does he (or she) not know who Van Halen is?" asked another.
"My take: you should definitely know who Van Halen is even if you’re 17," a third wrote.
On the other side of the argument, online commentators rushed to defend Eilish, claiming it was unreasonable to expect the teen to be aware of music from several decades ago.
"Just to weigh in on this completely pointless Monday-morning thing: Van Halen is peak 'you had to be there' music, no real reason to know about it if you weren’t," one tweet read.
"If you're surprised Billie Eilish has never heard of Van Halen, I would love to ask you what music you were listening to as teenager from 40 years ago," said another.
"That's listening to music from the 1930s when you grew up in the '70s, and the 1940s if you grew up in the '80s. Calm down."
The dispute even caught the attention of Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie Van Halen and the band's bassist.
"If you haven't heard of @billieeilish, go check her out. She's cool. If you haven't heard of @VanHalen, go check them out. They're cool too," he wrote.
"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."
