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"Are you f--king kidding me? I made an experimental concept album about how I almost f--king died. I'm not gonna do those numbers," the singer said of her latest album, 'The Great Impersonator,' before sharing the numbers her label allegedly considered a "failure."
Halsey is opening up about why she hasn't released new music since her 2024 album.
During an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, the singer claimed her record label won't let her record a new album because of how her latest record, The Great Impersonator, performed.
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View Story"I can't make an album right now -- I'm not allowed to," Halsey told Lowe. "That's the reality, because The Great Impersonator didn't perform the way they thought it was going to.”
"If I'm being honest with you, the [Great Impersonator] album sold 100,000 f--king copies first week," she continued. "That's a pretty big first week, especially for an artist who hasn't had a hit in a long time."
"The tour is the highest-selling tour of my entire career, but they want Manic numbers from me. Everyone wants Manic numbers from me. I can't do that every single time," Halsey added, referring to her 2020 album. "It should good enough that I do it once in a while."
Lowe seemingly agreed with Halsey's frustration, noting, "It should be good enough."
"But it's not," Halsey continued. "What would be considered a success for most artists, a success story, 100,000 albums in the first week, in an era when we don't sell physical music, okay, with no radio hit, nothing. But it's a failure ... in the context of the kind of success that I've had previously."
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"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," she said, before bringing up the "era" of when she and Ariana Grande were "fighting" for no. 1 on the charts, with their hit songs like "Without Me" and "Thank U Next," respectively.
"We weren't fighting. We were texting. We loved it. It was the best time ever, that era," Halsey recalled, adding that it was an "amazing time."
"But if my record comes out with 100,000 copies first week -- with no radio play, no real support -- and the comparison is, 'Why isn't she doing Taylor Swift numbers?' Are you f--king kidding me? I made an experimental concept album about how I almost f--king died. I'm not gonna do those numbers, but I'm doing pretty damn good. Those are strong numbers. It's still in the top 10 of female artist first weeks. But it's not good enough because it's not the pop star I once was."
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Despite her label's alleged disappointment, the "Bad at Love" singer praised her fans for their support.
"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 told Lowe. "They support me."
Halsey's fifth album The Great Impersonator -- which was released in October 2024 -- marked her first record under Columbia Records after she parted ways with Capitol Records in 2020. As she mentioned, The Great Impersonator was a concept, and addressed her health battles after she revealed in 2024 that she had been diagnosed with lupus and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder back in 2022.
Halsey's For My Last Trick tour -- which coincided with The Great Impersonator -- took place earlier this year from May until June, and was considered a success. She is set to kick off her sixth headlining tour, Back to Badlands, next month, which will celebrate the 10th anniversary of her debut album, Badlands.
