Halsey (singer)

Ashley Nicolette Frangipane ( ; (born September 29, 1994), known professionally as Halsey ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Gaining attention from self-released music on social media platforms, she was signed by Astralwerks in 2014 and released her debut EP, Room 93, later that year.

Halsey has since earned one number-one album on the Billboard 200 with Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (2017), as well as two number-two albums with Badlands (2015) and Manic (2020). She has earned two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Closer", a collaboration with The Chainsmokers, and "Without Me"; she has also attained a top-five single with "Bad at Love". In total, Halsey has sold over one million albums and has been streamed over six billion times in the United States. All three of her studio albums have been supported by a headlining tour. 

Halsey is noted for her distinctive singing voice. Her awards and nominations include four Billboard Music Awards, one American Music Award, one GLAAD Media Award, three  Guinness World Records, an MTV Video Music Award and two Grammy Award nominations. Outside of her career, she has been involved in suicide prevention awareness and sexual assault victim advocacy.

Early life 
Ashley Nicolette Frangipane was born on September 29, 1994, in Edison, New Jersey. Her parents dropped out of college after her mother discovered that she was pregnant with her. Her mother, Nicole, works for security in a hospital, and her father, Chris, manages a car dealership. Nicole is of Italian, Hungarian, and Irish descent, while Chris is African-American with some Irish ancestry. Frangipane has two younger brothers, Sevian and Dante. She played the violin, viola, and cello, until moving on to the acoustic guitar when she was 14 years old.

Throughout her childhood Frangipane's family moved frequently, as her parents worked many jobs. By the time she reached her teen years she had enrolled in six schools. In high school, Frangipane endured bullying by other students, and at 17 she attempted suicide, which led to a 17-day hospitalization. Following this, she was diagnosed as bipolar; her mother also struggles with the disorder. She began using recreational drugs soon after, claiming her bipolar disorder caused her to become an "unconventional child". Also, when she was 17, she became romantically involved with a man who was 24 and lived on the Halsey Street in Brooklyn. Frangipane said, "That's where I first starting writing music and where I started to feel like I was a part of something bigger than my town in middle of nowhere New Jersey. Halsey is kind of like a manifestation of all the exaggerated parts of me, so it's like an alter ego." In 2012, she graduated from Warren Hills Regional High School in Washington, New Jersey.

After graduating, Frangipane enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design; however, she withdrew due to financial hardship and attended community college instead. She eventually dropped out of community college and was ejected from her home, saying, "They just didn't agree with a lot of things about me". Soon after, she lived in a basement in lower Manhattan with a group of "degenerate stoners" whom she knew through her then-boyfriend. When she was not living there, she occasionally lived in one of New York's many homeless shelters, and she considered prostitution as a way to make money. When describing this period of her life, Frangipane said, "I remember one time I had $9 in my bank account, and bought a four-pack of Red Bull and used it to stay up overnight over the course of two or three days, because it was less dangerous to not sleep than it was to sleep somewhere random and maybe get raped or kidnapped." She would occasionally stay with her maternal grandmother.

Career

2012–2014: Career beginnings 
Frangipane started writing music when she was 17, and in 2012 she began posting videos to social media sites such as YouTube and Kik, and in particular Tumblr, under the username of se7enteenblack. She became known for a parody of Taylor Swift's song "I Knew You Were Trouble", inspired by Swift's relationship with Harry Styles. She then wrote a follow up song about their relationship which was posted online in early 2013. In early 2014, Frangipane went to a party and met a "music guy" who asked her to collaborate on a song with him because he liked her voice. The result, a song about her ex-boyfriend titled "Ghost", was posted by Frangipane on SoundCloud several weeks after it was recorded. Within hours, the song gained online popularity, and she was subsequently contacted by several record labels, with the song eventually charting and going on radio. She signed with Astralwerks, feeling that they gave her more creative freedom than other labels that contacted her.

Following this, Frangipane played numerous acoustic shows in different cities under several stage names. She chose Halsey as her permanent stage name because it is an anagram of her first name, and is also a reference to the Halsey Street station of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, a place she spent a lot of time at when she was a teenager. She also stated Halsey was the most popular name she used. Having written poems for years, Halsey began writing more serious songs as a way to promote them. Music became Halsey's "confessional approach" and a form of therapy after the difficult life she had endured.

2014–2016: Badlands and breakthrough 

Halsey began touring with The Kooks in August 2014 and performed various original songs. She released her debut extended play, Room 93, on October 27, 2014. The EP charted in the lower regions of the US Billboard 200 and at number three on the Top Heatseekers chart. She then began work on her debut studio album and performed songs from the upcoming album at South by Southwest in 2015, where she was the most tweeted about performer of the night. She embarked on a co-headlining tour with Young Rising Sons in March, and in June, she became the opening act for Imagine Dragons on their Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015) during the North American leg.

Halsey's debut studio album, Badlands, was released on August 28, 2015. She described Badlands as a concept album about a dystopian future society known as "The Badlands", which was a metaphor for her mental state at the time, stating that each song meant something different to her. Halsey wrote all of the songs on the album when she was 19, while production was handled by a number of producers, including then boyfriend, Norwegian producer Lido. The album was described by Halsey as not having a "proper radio hit". It received positive reviews from music critics, with Joe Levy of Rolling Stone citing Halsey as a "new Tumblr popstar with a knack for sticky imagery". Badlands debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the US, selling 115,000 copies in its first week, of which 97,000 were pure album sales. The album found success in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, where the album debuted in the top three. It was further promoted by Halsey's Badlands Tour (2015–16), and her spot as the opening act for select dates of The Weeknd's The Madness Fall Tour (2015).

Badlands was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for U.S. sales of 1,000,000 units. Four singles were released from the album: "Ghost", "New Americana", "Colors", and "Castle", all of which were certified Platinum in the US. The latter three singles achieved minor commercial success; "New Americana" reached number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Colors" became the album's most streamed track on Spotify and was certified Silver in the UK, and "Castle" was rerecorded for the soundtrack of the 2016 film The Huntsman: Winter's War. "Gasoline" was not released as a single and was only included on the deluxe version of Badlands, but became one of the album's most popular tracks; it is the album's third most streamed track on Spotify, and was certified Platinum in the US.

Halsey was featured on the song "The Feeling" by Justin Bieber for his fourth studio album, Purpose (2015). The song was not officially released, though entered the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold in the US and Silver in the UK. In February 2016, she was one of four female performers to partner with MAC cosmetics for their Future Forward line; Halsey released a lipstick named after herself. The Senior Vice President and Group Creative Director of the company, James Gager, said "It feels like a great thing to be able to support artists who are breaking through but aren't necessarily at the top top, to push them forward." In May 2016, Halsey released the song "Tokyo Narita (Freestyle)", produced by Lido. The song was a standalone track that served as a promotional single from Halsey. In July 2016, Halsey collaborated with 26 other artists for the charity single "Hands", which was a tribute for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

On July 29, 2016, Halsey was featured as a vocalist on The Chainsmokers' single "Closer," a song she also cowrote. The song achieved major commercial success; it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks, topped the charts of 12 other countries, sold more than 15 million units worldwide, and is one of most streamed songs on Spotify. The official lyric video for "Closer" was released on YouTube on July 29, 2016, and has since garnered over two billion views. Billboard noted Halsey's solo verse as a favorable part of the song, and the song earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

2017–2018: Hopeless Fountain Kingdom 
Halsey announced work on her second studio album prior to the release of Badlands, with progress on the record continuing throughout 2016 and 2017. In January 2017, she released the single "Not Afraid Anymore"; it appears on the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). "Now or Never" was released on April 4 as the lead single from her second studio album, and because it preceded the release of her second studio album, it was released as an instant grat with the album's pre-order. The song debuted at number 52 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and later peaked at number 17. It was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. "Now or Never" also reached the top 20 of Australia and Malaysia, and sold 500,000 units outside of the US. Two promotional singles were also made available prior to the release of the album: "Eyes Closed" and "Strangers"'.

Halsey released her second studio album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, on June 2. The album consisted of more "radio friendly" songs in comparison to her previous work, which she attributed to her desire to prove she was "more than capable" of creating "radio-ready" music. Much like her debut album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom is a concept album that revolves around a pair of lovers in a tale based on Romeo and Juliet; the project was inspired by her breakup with Lido. The album also focuses on Halsey's bisexuality and on bisexual characters. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom debuted atop the Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart. First week sales in the US were of 106,000 equivalent album units, with 76,000 being pure album sales. Similar to her debut album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Due to the album reaching number one, Halsey became the first woman to achieve a number one album in the US in 2017. To promote the album, Halsey embarked on the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour, which began on September 29, 2017, her twenty-third birthday. Halsey also performed surprise DJ sets at Emo Nite in Los Angeles in 2017.

The second single from Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, "Bad at Love", was released on August 22. The song peaked at number five in the US, which made it her highest peak as a lead artist at the time. It was certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA, and sold more than 300,000 records outside the US. In December, Halsey's collaboration with then boyfriend G-Eazy "Him & I" was released, and later peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was certified 2x Platinum by RIAA. The song also reached the top ten of 13 other countries' charts. In mid 2017 she collaborated with the band Thirty Seconds to Mars on the song "Love Is Madness" for their album America.

On January 13, 2018, Halsey was a featured as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live and performed "Bad at Love" and "Him & I" with G-Eazy. On March 15, Halsey released "Alone", along with a new version featuring American rapper Big Sean and British rapper Stefflon Don. It was released as the third and final single from Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, and in April she released its music video. "Alone" was certified Platinum by RIAA and reached number one on Billboard's Dance Club chart, though only peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. Halsey sang with Khalid for Benny Blanco's debut single "Eastside", which was released on July 12, along with a music video discussing various parts of Halsey's life. The song peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts of five other countries. It was certified 2x Platinum in the US, and sold over one million units outside the country. Also this year she appeared in two films: she voiced Wonder Woman in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, and cameoed as herself in A Star Is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper. Halsey was also a key advisor on the U.S. version of The Voice in its fifteenth season.

2018–present: Manic 
On October 4, Halsey released a single titled "Without Me", her first single through Capitol Records. "Without Me" is her "first solo-record since 2017." She stated that this song is also very personal to her. On October 29, the official music video for "Without Me" was released, featuring a "G-Eazy lookalike" following their second breakup. This song went on to become Halsey's most successful single as a lead artist to date, becoming her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. It topped the chart for two non-consecutive weeks and remained in the top five for 22 weeks. It also reached the top three of the UK, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland. The song has been certified 3x Platinum in the US, Platinum in the UK, and 5x Platinum in Australia and Canada. Due to "Without Me" reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Halsey became the eighth woman to achieve multiple number ones on the chart during the 2010s.

Halsey released or was featured on various collaborations during the first several months of 2019, including a remix of "Without Me" featuring American rapper Juice WRLD on January 9, the song "11 Minutes" with Yungblud and featuring Travis Barker on February 14 and accompanying music video on February 22, and the song "Boy with Luv" by BTS on April 12, the music video for which became the most–viewed music video within the first 24 hours on YouTube with 74.6 million views. On April 19, she and 29 other musical acts were featured on the Lil Dicky song "Earth," a charity single about climate change awareness.

On February 9, Halsey appeared on Saturday Night Live as the host and musical guest. Her performance was praised, with ratings for the show rising and a younger audience watching. In March, Halsey announced that her third studio album would be released in 2019. The album is titled Manic, and was released in January 2020. On May 17, Halsey released the single "Nightmare", which debuted in the top fifteen of the US. On September 13, 2019, she released the single "Graveyard". On September 23, 2019, Halsey announced her upcoming concert tour, named Manic World Tour, in support of her third studio album. The singer will play 19 shows during the first leg, scheduled to take place in Europe between February and March 2020. She released a promotional single, "Clementine", on her birthday, September 29, 2019.  On January 25, 2020 she again appeared on Saturday Night Live where she performed two songs from her new album Manic, "You Should be Sad" and "Finally//Beautiful Stranger" as well as appeared in a few sketches.  

In December 2019, she appeared on the Bring Me the Horizon EP Music to Listen To…. BMTH singer Oli Sykes later teased additional collaborations; one of them was revealed a month later to be the Oli Sykes and Jordan Fish-produced song "Experiment on Me" to the soundtrack of the superhero film Birds of Prey, which was released on February 7, 2020.

Artistry

Influences 
As Halsey grew up, her mother listened to The Cure, Alanis Morissette, and Nirvana, while her father listened to The Notorious B.I.G., Slick Rick, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and 2Pac. She said their music taste has been a great influence on her. Halsey called Panic! at the Disco the "band that changed [her] fucking life" and credits Lady Gaga for giving her the strength to be herself. Halsey mentioned a Long Island rock band, Brand New, as both an influence and a favorite of hers, once changing her biography on Instagram to "the devil and God are raging inside me", a reference to their third album. Halsey cited Taylor Swift as a huge reason why she always insisted on writing her own music. Her other influences include Marilyn Manson, Beck, Kanye West, The Weeknd, Amy Winehouse, and Bright Eyes.

Halsey has said "There's plenty of musicians that I love and respect, but I think that I'm the most inspired by cinema." Filmmakers who have influenced her include Quentin Tarantino, Harmony Korine, and Larry Clark.

Music style and themes 
Halsey is noted for her distinctive "indie" style of singing, which has garnered controversial feedback. She sings with an "accent" different from her speaking voice. She is a pop, electropop, synth-pop, art pop, alternative pop, R&B, and indie pop artist.
The New York Times Jon Caramanica noted, "Halsey arrived as part of a slew of female pop rebels who emerged in the wake of Lorde's early-2010s recalibration of the genre's operating hierarchies." When speaking of Badlands, Billboard stated, "Halsey's larger-than-life vision combines the synthy darkness of Lorde, the neon-pop chutzpah of Miley Cyrus and the flickering film noir of Lana Del Rey."

Halsey's music focuses on her personal experiences and telling a story. She writes about relationships with other women in her music as a way of solidifying her bisexuality.

Videos and stage 
The biggest influence on her live performances is Adam Lazzara, the frontman of Taking Back Sunday, as she said, "One of the most inspiring things I've ever seen is watching [Taking Back Sunday] live and watching Adam use that microphone as a prop and I thought yep, I'm gonna do that."

Public image 

In her early career, Halsey drew criticism for pre-fame Tweets that were posted from 2009–2012, and also gained controversy for allegedly calling herself "tri-bi" in an interview, due to her being biracial, bipolar, and bisexual; however, she stated the label is a trivializing way to describe her and condemned the label as a misquote. She became most known for her signature dyed blue hair in her early career. She drew controversy in 2016 after several fan interactions, some involving Halsey kissing underage fans.

In June 2017, Halsey received backlash for collaborating with Quavo, an artist who has made homophobic remarks. She stated that she has never spoken to Quavo, and continued to say that she wouldn't put "a lot of people" on her songs. She criticized Iggy Azalea for her "complete disregard for black culture". She also criticized Demi Lovato for, in Halsey's view, treating bisexuality as taboo in the song "Cool for the Summer."

Halsey has described herself as an "in-between role model," and an "inconvenient woman" due to her music and style. She stated in 2017 that although she passes as white, she is a black woman and proud of her heritage. She has appeared on the cover of magazines such as Forbes 30 Under 30, Billboard, Paper, and Playboy. She has appeared in advertisements for Jeep, Beats Electronics, and ModCloth. She has been described a feminist icon. She has also been called the "voice of her generation". Her relationship with G-Eazy gathered significant media attention due to rumors of drug usage, arrest, cheating, and G-Eazy's feuds with other artists.

Halsey has long identified as an alternative artist, stating that she can do pop collaborations without being considered a pop artist, similar to Kendrick Lamar. She states that she is only classified as pop because she is a woman. Some of her music is still labeled pop while some is considered alternative. In 2019, she called herself "the anti-popstar" and stated she doesn't care how people identify her music, as long as it connects to people.

Activism 
During the 2016 United States presidential election, Halsey was an avid supporter of Bernie Sanders and urged her fans to vote for him. In July 2016, she and 26 other artists were featured on the charity single "Hands", which was a tribute for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

As a result of her own attempted suicide at age 17, Halsey participated in the mental health and suicide prevention awareness campaign called "I'm Listening", which was hosted by radio network Entercom and broadcast live on September 10, 2017.

Halsey is a feminist. After the 2017 Women's March, Halsey sent out a tweet that promised to donate one dollar to Planned Parenthood for every retweet it received. She ended up donating $100,000 to Planned Parenthood. Halsey delivered a speech to more than 200,000 protesters at the 2018 Women's March.  Instead of a traditional speech, Halsey performed a five-minute poem titled "A Story Like Mine", in which she told personal stories of sexual assault and violence throughout her life. Her personal narrative included accompanying her best friend to Planned Parenthood after she had been raped, her personal account of sexual assault by neighbors and boyfriends, and women sexually assaulted by Olympic doctor Larry Nassar. She completed her speech by requesting all—"Black, Asian, poor, wealthy, trans, cis, Muslim, Christian"—sexual assault victims to listen and support each other. A. J. Willingham of CNN opined in a headline that "Halsey's Women's March speech moved people around the world." In March 2018, Halsey protested alongside numerous other celebrities at March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C.. In May 2018 Halsey attacked Ivanka Trump over Twitter, complaining that she was too relaxed while her father hurt immigrant children.

In November 2018 Halsey performed at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, along numerous other artists, but in December she called out the company for its lack of inclusion of transgender models in its various shows, stating "as a member of the LGBT+ community, I have no tolerance for a lack of inclusivity. Especially not motivated by stereotype." Later that month, she performed her hit song "Without Me" on The Voice and received backlash for "sensually" dancing with backup dancer Jade Chynoweth. Many called the backlash homophobic and Halsey defended her performance. In a January 2019 interview with Glamour, she advocated for a stronger presence of women in music. In April 2019, she and 29 other musical acts were featured on the charity single "Earth", which raises climate change awareness.

Personal life

Relationships 
Halsey is openly bisexual. From 2015 to 2016, Halsey dated Norwegian producer Lido, who helped produce Badlands and inspired Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.

In 2017, she began dating American rapper G-Eazy. They met at a party in 2017 and although they pursued different music, they found common ground for their collaboration "Him & I", which discussed their love and lifestyle. The couple broke up in July 2018; their relationship was off and on again until September of that year when the relationship was officially over. Halsey confirmed in a 2019 interview with Glamour that her October 2018 single "Without Me" is partially about their relationship.

She began dating English alternative rock musician Yungblud in November 2018. They both met at a bar in Los Angeles which remained a secret, they discussed different topics including music, and ended up collaborating on "11 Minutes", and were rumored to be in a romantic relationship. Halsey first confirmed their relationship in an interview with Capital FM in March and celebrated his birthday in August. In September of that year, they ended their relationship.

Halsey is currently in a relationship with actor Evan Peters as of October 2019.

Personal health 
Since the beginning of her career, Halsey has been open about her personal health; in 2015, speaking of her career, she stated "I'm just this fucked-up stoner kid who made it".

Halsey has bipolar disorder. She was diagnosed with this mental disorder at the age of 17, and said that her mother also has it. At that age, Halsey attempted suicide, which is what led to her diagnosis and a 17-day admission to a psychiatric hospital. It was not long after her suicide attempt that Halsey began having success in the music industry. She said that singing and performing has helped her manage the symptoms she experiences from having bipolar disorder. Despite the struggles Halsey has faced as a result of this mood disorder, she said that she embraces being bipolar because it makes her "really empathetic".

Halsey was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2016 and went public with it on her Twitter account. Halsey accredits a miscarriage she experienced in 2015 to her endometriosis, originally stating in 2016 that it was due to her hectic touring schedule. Only hours after Halsey realized she was having a miscarriage, she went on stage to perform during a tour because she did not want to hurt her career by missing a performance.  Halsey chronicled her struggles with endometriosis on the talk show The Doctors in April 2018, where she revealed she was going to freeze her eggs.

Also in 2018, Halsey spoke out about her endometriosis and the pain it causes at the Blossom Ball, which is run by the Endometriosis Foundation of America. At the Blossom Ball, she said, "Sometimes I'm bloated, I'm on an I.V., I'm sick, I'm on medicine, and I'm backstage, terrified that I'm going to bleed through my clothes in the middle of my show." She told people who attended this event that she wanted to speak out because the media often portrays her as having perfect physical health despite her struggle with endometriosis. In January 2017, Halsey underwent surgery in an attempt to lessen the pain caused by the disorder. Halsey has not disclosed what type of surgery she underwent.

On July 29, 2019, Halsey tweeted "the best gift I ever got in life was Cheerios being gluten free", which prompted a fan to ask her if she was gluten free, she responded saying that she was gluten intolerant and within less than two minutes of consuming food containing gluten, her stomach swells up to the comparison of looking 6 months pregnant.

On August 14, 2019, Halsey revealed on Twitter that she quit smoking cigarettes after 10 years.

Tattoos 
Halsey has 29 confirmed tattoos, with her most prominent being an upside-down horseshoe on her right shoulder. She had a tattoo of "Him & I" lyrics for G-Eazy that has since been covered. She has one tattoo on her face. She also has a tattoo of Marilyn Manson's face on the side of her torso and a tattoo of lyrics from Beck's song "Loser" (1993) on her neck.

Discography 

 Badlands (2015)
 Hopeless Fountain Kingdom (2017)
Manic (2020)

Filmography

Music videos

Film

Television

Web

Tours 
Headlining
 Badlands Tour (2015–2016)
 Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour (2017–2018)
 Manic World Tour (2020)

Co-headlining
 The American Youth Tour (2015) (with Young Rising Sons)

Opening act
 Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015)
 The Weeknd – The Madness Fall Tour (2015)

Awards and nominations

See also

 LGBTQ culture in New York City
List of people with bipolar disorder
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart
List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart

Notes

References

External links 

 

 
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Category:American pop singers
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