Halsey took the music industry by storm in 2014 with the release of her debut EP, but what was her first ever song?
Haley’s first song was called ‘Ghost’ and was first published on SoundCloud, as opposed to being a traditional release. The song was so popular that radio stations began playing it before she had a record label.
Read on to learn more about Halsey’s success.
Started From The Bottom…
Haley’s story is most certainly one of a rags to riches style. She was born to very young parents, and the family had their fair share of struggles as she grew up. Her parents did attempt to nurture her musical tendencies from a young age, but it wasn’t by any means impressive.
It has been documented that the family moved from place to place a lot, with her parents pursuing job opportunities as and when they become available. Halsey explained that music “served as an escape from her chaotic household.” She also went on to explain that even as she got older, things didn’t get better.
She gravitated towards a bad crowd, dabbling with substances and eventually dropping out of college. She drifted from place to place, finding a couch or a bed wherever she could, but ultimately ending up homeless.
However, while drifting in New York, Halsey was invited to a party at which she performed a song – written during the party. This caught the attention of a small-time producer in the music industry, and before she knew it Halsey was writing and performing her first song: Ghost.
You can see the video for this song on YouTube.
The song became massively successful, with radio stations playing the track from SoundCloud before Halsey had signed with a record label. She ultimately signed with Astralwerks, but remained unsure of her identity. She experimented with several stage names before ultimately landing on Halsey. This is simply an anagram of her real first name, Ashley.
However, it was also the name of a street that she lived on in Brooklyn when she was a teenager.
… Now We Here
As of 2020, Halsey had gone on to release three albums, all to great praise and reception. She’d also been involved with the creation of a string of iconic and artistic music videos. If that wasn’t enough, Halsey also pursued acting roles and appearances in films and television shows.
She quickly climbed the ladder of stardom within the music industry, being nominated for (and winning) several awards within mere months of her appearance. This included being nominated for two Grammy Awards, one of which was Album of the Year.
Halsey has also been widely documented as being truly inspirational and down to earth. She’s confirmed that she lives with bipolar disorder, suicidal tendencies and struggled with substances. She has also been diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that led to a tragic miscarriage in 2015.
Ultimately, Halsey uses her powerful influence and attitude for good. She’s an avid support and activist for many causes, such as women’s rights and equality, racial justice and migrant rights.
It seems that Halsey has tried to distance herself from any negative aspects attached to pop stardom. She went on record in 2019, stating in a Tweet that she was an ‘anti-popstar’ stating that female artists shouldn’t need to ‘succumb to the social expectations of the genre’.
Overall, Halsey’s journey is an extremely impressive one. After a very difficult upbringing and early life, the discovery of her first song, Ghost, led to amazing things. Like many young artists, she found the majority of her fame before the age of twenty-five, but it doesn’t end there. Her musical career would seemingly continue on an upwards trend for many years to come.