Halsey

Halsey (born Ashley Nicolette Frangipane on September 29, 1994 in Edison, New Jersey) is a singer, songwriter, and activist. From her humble beginnings in the Garden State, Halsey has found her way to the top of the charts, thanks to her powerful voice, captivating songwriting, and an unapologetic persona that refuses to be quiet.

Career

Throughout Halsey’s childhood, her family moved frequently as her parents – mother Nicole, who is of Italian and Hungarian descent, and father Chris, an African-American with some Irish ancestry – worked many jobs to raise Halsey and her two younger brothers. By the time she was a teen, Halsey had enrolled in six schools. Always the new kid, Halsey was often bullied by other students, which resulted in her attempting suicide when she was 17. She was subsequently diagnosed as bipolar, and has been open about her mental health struggles. Also when she was 17, she began a relationship with a 24-year-old man in Brooklyn.

During this teenage love-affair, she began writing music. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design, but withdrew to attend community college instead. Ultimately, she dropped out, which resulted in her being ejected out of her family home. She relocated to Manhattan, living with friends and crashing at NYC’s homeless shelters. During this time, she began taking the first steps in her music career.

Halsey began writing music at age 17, and in 2012, she posted videos of her performing to YouTube and Tumblr. In 2014, she posted a song about her ex-boyfriend, titled “Ghost,” to SoundCloud. It blew up almost instantly, and she was soon contacted by several recording labels. She signed with Astralwerks, citing the creative freedom they were offering, and she began playing numerous acoustic shows under several stage names. She settled on Halsey since it’s an anagram of her first name, Ashley, and it’s a reference to the Halsey Street station of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, where she would spent a lot of time as a teen.

In 2014, she released her debut EP, Room 93. It charted around the lower end of the Billboard 200 but hit No. 3 on the Top Heatseekers chart. She continued to build a buzz, performing at South by Southwest in 2015 and opening for Imagine Dragons during the North American leg of their 2015 tour. Later that year, she released Badlands, her debut studio album. She wrote all the songs on the album when she was 19. It received mostly positive reviews, and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It would eventually get certified double-Platinum in the U.S. The four singles from the album – “Ghost,” “New Americana,” “Colors” and “Castle” – would all be certified platinum. In 2015, Halsey teamed with one of her influences, Justin Bieber, on “The Feeling,” off his album Purpose.

Halsey experienced a boost of fame and success in 2016 thanks to a “Closer,” a collaboration with The Chainsmokers, a song she co-wrote. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks, sold more than 15 million united worldwide, and won her a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group performance. She started off 2017 with “Not Afraid Anymore,” a song from the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, and “Now or Never,” the lead single from her second studio album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. The album was released on June 2, 2017, and was considered more “radio friendly” than her debut. It was inspired by her breakup with her boyfriend, Norwegian producer Lido. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. The album contained “Bad At Love,” one of her most successful singles, and “Him & I,” a collaboration with her then-boyfriend G-Eazy.

Halsey continued to tour and gain fame the following year. In 2018, she was a featured musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and teamed with Benny Blanco for his debut single, “Eastside.” Later in the year, she released a single, “Without Me,” and the music video featured a G-Eazy lookalike following their second breakup. “Without Me” would top her earlier singles in terms of success. It was her first solo No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, before going on to be certified 3x Platinum in the U.S. In 2019, she released “11 Minutes” with Yungblud and Travis Barker, around the time when Halsey and Yungblud were rumored to be in a romantic relationship. In 2019, she teamed with BTS for “Boy With Luv,” and the video reached 74.6 million views in the first 24 hours on YouTube.

At the start of 2020, Halsey released Manic, her third studio album. She released singles “Graveyard,” “Nightmare,” “Clementine,” “You Should Be Sad,” and “Finally//Beautiful Stranger.” The album would be certified Platinum in the U.S. after debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. She began the Manic World Tour in Feb. 6, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from performing the North American leg. She later rescheduled the dates for 2021.

Personal Life

Halsey is openly bisexual. She began dating Lido in 2015, before breaking things off in the following year. She was involved with G-Eazy in an on-again/off-again relationship until July 2018. In November 2018, she met and began dating Yungblud. She confirmed the relationship in March 2019, but by September of that year, they had amicably split. Halsey and actor Evan Peters began dating in late 2019, but they had called it quits in March 2020. Around that time, there was speculation that Halsey had reconciled with Yungblud, but neither confirmed the rumors.

In addition to being bipolar, Halsey was diagnosed with endometriosis. She blames this for a miscarriage she experienced in 2015. She is also gluten intolerant.

The Most Popular Questions About Halsey

What is Halsey’s Real Name?

Halsey’s full, real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane. She chose Halsey as her musical moniker because it was an anagram for her real name and an homage to a street in Brooklyn she loved in her youth.

Why did Halsey and G-Eazy Break Up?

From the very first time G-Eazy brought Halsey out on stage on tour in August 2017, people were really keen on the couple. Days later, after dropping their duet ‘Him & I”, Halsey seemingly confirmed their romance with a flirty Instagram caption. It took another week for the romance to be official, and following months were spent loving on each other, NYE PDA, and more. She even stood by his side when he was arrested in Sweden for drug possession in May 2018. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, on July 3rd, 2018, they called it quits and separated. Over the years, Halsey has alluded the to breakup as ‘heinous’ and G-Eazy being a ‘shitty dude’. She also has called out trolls for chanting his name at her shows. Needless to say, her truth is that he was the problem.