Halsey says she’s been benched by her label after her latest album didn’t meet expectations—despite a strong debut and sold-out tour.
“I can’t make an album right now,” she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe during a recent interview. “I’m not allowed to. It’s the reality.”
The 30-year-old singer revealed that Columbia Records has halted her ability to record new music following the release of The Great Impersonator, which dropped on October 25, 2024.
The album opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and moved 100,000 units in its first week—a figure that would be a win for most artists—but not enough for her label.
“If I’m being honest with you, the album sold 100,000 f###### copies first week,” she said. “That’s a pretty big first week, especially for an artist who hasn’t had a hit in a long time.”
Columbia reportedly measured the album’s performance against Halsey’s 2020 project Manic, which featured the 6x-platinum single “Without Me” and debuted at No. 2 with over 239,000 equivalent album units.
“It would be considered a success for most artists, 100,000 albums in the first week, in an era when we don’t sell physical music,” she said. “But it’s a failure in the context of the kind of success I’ve had previously. And that’s the hardest part of having been a pop star once, because I’m not one anymore, and I’m being compared to people that I don’t consider lateral to me.”
Halsey Gears Up For “Back To Badlands Tour” In October
The comments add to a long history of friction between Halsey and the music business. She left Capitol Records in 2023 after creative disagreements and signed with Columbia that June, hoping for more freedom.
Capitol had released her first four albums, including her 2015 debut, Badlands, and the critically praised Manic. Despite the label freeze, Halsey’s live shows are thriving. Her “My Last Trick Tour” wrapped in July after selling out 32 dates and breaking her personal touring record.
“They want Manic numbers from me,” she said, pointing to the pressure to repeat past success.
Still, she credited her supporters for keeping her career afloat. “I love them, God bless them, because they’re the only reason that I’m even able to make anything at all, that I can sell that many copies of an experimental concept album about death,” she said. “They support me.”
Halsey is now gearing up for her “Back To Badlands Tour” in Los Angeles. The trek is a 10-year anniversary of her breakout debut.
