Singer-songwriter Halsey revealed she’s “not allowed” to release another album as a result of her most recent record’s commercial performance.
Halsey, 30, will be touring to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of her debut album, Badlands, following her last project, 2024’s The Great Impersonator.
However, the “Castle” singer revealed that she won’t be releasing more music in the immediate future.
“I can’t make an album right now,” said Halsey in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music. “I’m not allowed to.”
She added: “The Great Impersonator didn’t perform the way they thought it was going to.”
“If I’m being honest with you, the album sold 100,000 f***ing 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.”
“It was harder and harder for me to get records out,” she explained.
“That’s the hardest part of having been a pop star once,” she said, alluding to the drop in record sales. “I’m not one anymore, but I’m being compared to numbers and to other people that I don’t consider lateral to me.”
The record debuted in second place on the US Billboard 200, behind Tyler, the Creator’s surprise release Chromakopia.
Her subsequent tour was considered a success but the record sales paled in comparison to her 2020 album Manic, which went double platinum.
“The tour is the highest-selling tour of my entire career, but they want Manic numbers from me,” she confirmed. “I can’t do that every single time.”
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The Independent has contacted Halsey’s record label, Columbia Records, for comment.
Much has changed, however, for the pop-rock artist since the release of her 2020 album.
After the birth of her son in 2021, Halsey was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in 2022.
After battling her illnesses in private, the singer then produced her 2024 project and announced it on Instagram. “Long story short, I’m lucky to be alive. Short story long, I wrote an album,” she said.
Her “Back to Badlands Tour” will run from 14 October 2025 to 20 February 2025, with three nights at the O2 Academy Brixton in London starting on 3 February.
