Halsey says she’s been benched by her label after her latest album didn’t meet expectations—despite a strong debut and sold-out tour.
The 30-year-old singer revealed that Columbia Records has halted her ability to record new music following the release of The Great Impersonator, which dropped on October 25, 2024. The album opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and moved 100,000 units in its first week—a figure that would be a win for most artists—but not enough for her label. Columbia reportedly measured the album’s performance against Halsey’s 2020 project Manic, which featured the 6x-platinum single “Without Me” and debuted at No. 2 with over 239,000 equivalent album units.
The comments add to a long history of friction between Halsey and the music business. She left Capitol Records in 2023 after creative disagreements and signed with Columbia that June, hoping for more freedom.