In July, Halsey wrapped up a tour in support of her 2024 album The Great Impersonator, and in October, she’ll start a tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of her album Badlands. But the question of when to expect her next album is a bit trickier.
While appearing on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1, Halsey told Zane, “I can’t make an album right now. I can’t make an album right now. I’m not allowed to. I can’t make an album right now.”
Halsey continued, “It’s the reality, because The Great Impersonator didn’t perform the way they thought it was going to,” despite the fact, as she pointed out, “the album sold a hundred thousand … copies first week. That’s a pretty big first week, especially for an artist who hasn’t had a hit in a long time.”
The Great Impersonator debuted at #2 with first-week sales of 93,000 units. But as Halsey told Zane, the issue is “they want Manic numbers from me,” noting, “I can’t do that every single time. It should be good enough that I do it once in a while.”
Manic was Halsey’s 2020 album. It also debuted at #2, but sold 239,000 units in its first week on its way to selling two million copies. It also spun off the #1 hit “Without Me.”
So, while Halsey says The Great Impersonator would be “considered a success for most artists,” it’s been deemed a “failure” based on her previous success.
“I made an experimental concept album about how I almost f****** died. I’m not going to do those numbers,” Halsey noted. “But I’m doing pretty damn good … but it’s not good enough, because it’s not the pop star I once was, even though I’m actively making the choice to not be.”
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