Halsey said her record label was placed on the bench after her latest album didn’t meet expectations, despite its outstanding debut and sold-out tour.
“I can’t make albums right now,” she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in a recent interview. “I don’t allow it. This is reality.”
The 30-year-old singer revealed that Columbia’s record has stopped her ability to record new music after the release of the big imitators released on October 25, 2024.
The album opened second on the Billboard 200 and moved 100,000 units in the first week, a win for most artists, but not enough for her record label.
“If I’m honest with you, the album sold 100,000 f ######## copy,” she said. “It’s important for the first week, especially for an artist who hasn’t been hit for a long time.”
Columbia reportedly measures the album’s performance against Halsey’s 2020 Project Manic, which features six times the feature — the White Skin Gold single “NothOt Me” and debuted in second place with over 239,000 equivalent album units.
“For most artists, this will be considered successful, and in an era when we don’t sell physical music, the first week will be released 100,000 albums in the first week,” she said. “But it’s a failure in the context of my previous success. It’s the hardest part of being a pop star because I’m no longer a pop singer and I’m comparing with people I don’t think I’m horizontal.”
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Halsey takes a “Back to the Wastelands” in October
Comments add to the long history of friction between Halsey and the music business. After creative divisions, she left Capitol Records in 2023 and signed with Colombia in June in hopes of more freedom.
The Capitol released her first four albums, including her 2015 debut, Wasteland and highly praised mania. Despite the freeze of tags, Halsey’s live performances are still thriving. Her “My Last Tour” sold 32 dates in July and broke her personal tour record.
“They want my manic numbers,” she said, noting the pressure to repeat past success.
Still, she believes her supporters have maintained their careers. “I love them, God bless them because they are the only reason I can even do anything, and I can sell many copies of the experimental concept album about death,” she said. “They support me.”
Halsey is now preparing for her “Back to the Wastelands” trip in Los Angeles. This trek marks the 10th anniversary of her breakthrough debut.
