Why Halsey claims she’s being blocked from releasing new music

Halsey, the singer-songwriter who rose to fame with her 2015 debut “Badlands,” revealed that she is currently unable to release new music, citing restrictions from her record label following the commercial performance of her most recent project, “The Great Impersonator.”

In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe released Sept. 18, the 30-year-old artist said, “I can’t make an album right now—I’m not allowed to. That’s the reality, because ‘The Great Impersonator’ didn’t perform the way they thought it was going to.”

She emphasized that the album sold roughly 100,000 copies in its first week, and that her accompanying tour was the most successful of her career. Yet the label reportedly expected sales on the scale of her 2020 double-platinum album, “Manic.”

“I can’t do that every single time,” she said.

Halsey, whose legal name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, framed the situation as part of the challenge of evolving beyond her status as a pop star. “That’s the hardest part of having been a pop star once,” she said. “I’m not one anymore, but I’m being compared to numbers and to other people that I don’t consider lateral to me.”

Her remarks come as she prepares to embark on the “Back to Badlands Tour,” celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut. The tour is scheduled to run from Oct. 14, 2025, through Feb. 20, 2026, starting with three nights in Los Angeles.

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Halsey’s career has been shaped by both professional and personal challenges. Following the birth of her son in 2021, she disclosed in 2022 that she had been diagnosed with several chronic conditions, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

She described “The Great Impersonator” as a labor of personal resilience: “Long story short, I’m lucky to be alive. Short story long, I wrote an album,” she wrote on Instagram when announcing the project.

The record debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 behind Tyler, the Creator’s surprise release “Chromakopia.”

While critics and fans responded positively to the album, its sales fell short of the label’s expectations, according to Halsey.

KTLA has contacted Columbia Records, Halsey’s label, for comment but has not received a response.

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