Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
Halsey admitted that her 2024 record The Great Impersonator felt like “a failure compared to the level of success” she had achieved with past projects.
Halsey has opened up about the reason fans haven’t seen new music from her lately.
In a conversation with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe on Thursday, Sept. 18, the 30-year-old artist admitted, “I can’t make an album right now… I’m not allowed to. That’s just the reality.”
She pointed to her most recent release, The Great Impersonator (2024), as the main factor. Despite debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 after its Oct. 25 release, the album “didn’t perform the way they wanted it to,” she explained.
Halsey noted that the project moved 100,000 copies in its first week, which she considers impressive given the current music climate. “That’s a huge number for an artist who hasn’t had a hit in a while,” she told Lowe.
Her My Last Trick Tour has been a bright spot, however, becoming the most successful tour of her career. Still, industry expectations remain high. Halsey said her label is comparing her current numbers to those from Manic (2020), which spawned the chart-topping single “Without Me.” That track alone has since gone 6x platinum, selling more than 6 million units.
Putting the two eras side by side, Halsey admitted, “For most artists, selling 100,000 in the first week would be considered a success, especially when physical sales are nearly gone. But in comparison to the kind of success I’ve had before, it feels like a failure. That’s the hardest part of having been a pop star once—because I’m not one anymore, and I’m being measured against people I don’t see as my peers.”
Currently signed with Columbia Records after parting ways with Capitol in 2023, Halsey has continued to thrive on the road. Her 32-date My Last Trick Tour sold out almost immediately, running from May to July 2025 in California. Up next, she’ll celebrate the 10th anniversary of her debut with a special Back to Badlands Tour kicking off in Los Angeles.