Halsey Young to Now: See the Singer's Transformation Over the Years

When it comes to powerhouse players in the music industry, Halsey 100 percent tops the list … literally. You can’t turn on the radio without hearing one of the singer’s hit singles. That said, the New Jersey native, whose real name is Ashley Frangipane, didn’t garner this much success overnight. In fact, for most people, Halsey only recently became part of their playlists.

Of course, there are many diehard fans who have been following Halsey since the release of their debut EP, Room 93, in 2014. *Raises hand.* However, it was Halsey’s first studio album, Badlands, that truly put her on the map. With classics like “New Americana,” “Colors” and “Young God,” Halsey introduced listeners to the creative, badass and fiercely talented artist we now know and love.

For those of you who haven’t been there from the beginning, though, you may not realize just how much Halsey has changed over the years. The artist — whose stage name was inspired by a street they lived on in Brooklyn as a teen — has changed her personal and red carpet style throughout their different eras and, overall, has become a trailblazer in alt-pop fashion.

However, the “Be Kind” artist private life has changed even more than their hair or style. In January 2021, Halsey shocked fans when they revealed her pregnancy with baby No. 1 with boyfriend Alev Aydin. They welcomed their son, Ender, in July 2021.

The pop star has been vocal about their endometriosis in the past, which makes conceiving significantly harder, if not impossible. Halsey revealed in January 2020 that they had undergone surgery to treat the disease — which has allowed her to conceive naturally.

As for what’s next in life, the “929” singer and Alev have “spoken about marriage” in the wake of becoming parents but are committed to raising their sweet child.

Deal of the Day

This ‘Slimming’ Suit is Just $16 Today! View Deal

“[Halsey] wasn’t necessarily hoping to get married before getting pregnant. Marriage is not the sole focus whatsoever,” an insider told Us Weekly in February 2021. “At the end of the day, what matters most is that the baby is healthy and that [Halsey] has a loving relationship with the father of her baby, and right now, [Halsey] for sure loves and adores Alev. They are very much in love.”

Halsey opened up about fan speculation that their pregnancy wasn’t planned in March 2021. “Why is it OK to speculate and pass judgment about fertility and conception?” the “Walls Could Talk” singer wrote via their Instagram Stories. “My pregnancy was 100 percent planned, and I tried very hard for my [baby]. But I would be happy even if it were another way.”

Scroll through the gallery below to see her complete transformation, as well as learn about some more of their career highlights!

2015

As mentioned, Halsey’s first EP was lesser known and while it did cultivate a number of dedicated fans, it wasn’t what made her a household name. In fact, aside from the airplay Halsey got from Badlands, there are two huge (and we mean HUGE) singles that forced listeners to pay attention to them.

First, in 2015, Halsey teamed up with Justin Bieber to collaborate on a song called “The Feeling.” Sure, Halsey isn’t exactly what you’d call a bubblegum pop kind of person — “Pop music is f—king fascinating to me,” Halsey told Rolling Stone following the single’s release — but being featured on Justin’s wildly successful Purpose album led to a lot of major opportunities. The pair even performed together on the Today show.

“It was just so real, so emotive, so evocative — two people connecting in this love song,” Halsey continued to Rolling Stone. “There was a moment where I think he and I were both kind of like, ‘Are we … are we … is this real?’”

2016

OK, now that we’ve properly discussed the Bieber days, it’s time to talk about “Closer.” Can you already hear the track in your head? Because we can. Halsey paired up with The Chainsmokers in 2016 and basically, the song went to the top of the Billboard charts in a matter of days.

It spent 12 weeks at No. 1 and charted for a total of 52 weeks altogether. Ultimately, if you didn’t know Halsey’s name before 2016, you definitely knew it after!

2017

In 2017, Halsey was back with another studio album. Unlike when they released Badlands, the singer was already a bonafide superstar. Hopeless Fountain Kingdom gave us hit singles like “Bad at Love,” “Don’t Play” and “Devil in Me.”

Halsey also paired up with her now-ex-boyfriend G-Eazy to release “Him & I” that year. As badly as their on-again, off-again relationship ended, it’s still a great song — because of Halsey’s vocals, mostly.

During her cover interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, Halsey explained that her fans actually prompted her to move on from the pair’s messy split. “I look down and there are these two girls, one with pink hair, one with blue hair, septum piercings, cool as f–k, still loving me, probably knowing what a weird time I’m going through,” they recalled.

“I looked at them, looked at myself in my sparkly Britney Spears outfit, and went, Ohhh no, they deserve way better than this. If those girls can be that brave in who they are, then I owe them better than this homogenized bulls–t.”

2018

… And brave they were! By October 2018, the world was introduced to Halsey’s single “Without Me” and basically, nothing has been the same ever since. For starters, it was Halsey’s first No. 1 song on the Billboard charts as a lead singer.

Secondly, it’s become somewhat of a breakup anthem and will likely stay that way for decades to come. Notable performances of the single include Saturday Night Live and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

2019

In May 2019, the artist dropped the powerful single “Nightmare” and in September, they released “Graveyard.” Both of those (amazing) songs were featured on her 2020 album, Manic.

“I sat there to make this album, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to make an angry album,’” Halsey told Billboard. “And I wasn’t mad. It’s exciting. … I’m closing a chapter in this record that I feel very much like I needed to put the final word on, put the nail in the coffin, if you will. Graveyard, marry it.”