Halsey gets candid about her health struggles, life and death in her latest and riveting new single, “The End.”
“Long story short, I’m lucky to be alive,” Halsey wrote in social media post on June 4. “Short story short, I wrote an album. It beings with The End.” The post included videos and images of Halsey in treatment, while the caption tagged both The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as well as the Lupus Research Alliance. In conjunction with this song release, Halsey is making a donations to both organizations.
In post’s first video, Halsey rubs her aching legs and tells a person off camera, “I feel like an old lady. I told myself I’m giving myself two more years to be sick. At 30, I’m having a rebirth and I’m not gonna be sick and I’m gonna look super hot and have so much energy and just get to re-do my twenties in my thirties.”
The lyrics in “The End” tackle similar grievances: “Every couple of years now, a doctor says I’m sick / Pulls out a brand new bag of tricks / And then they lay it on me / And at first, it was my brain, then a skeleton in pain / And I don’t like to complain, but I’m saying sorry.”
On Wednesday, Halsey posted another set of photos to Instagram, noting that she was first diagnosed with Lupus SLE (an autoimmune disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain and other organs, per the National Library of Medicine) and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in 2022.
“Both of which are currently being managed or in remission; and both of which I will likely have for the duration of my life,” she added. “After a rocky start, I slowly got everything under control with the help of amazing doctors. After 2 years, I’m feeling better and I’m more grateful than ever to have music to turn to.”
“The End” was written by Halsey and produced by Halsey, Michael Uzowuru (Frank Ocean, Rosalía, SZA, Kevin Abstract) and Alex G.
The guitar-led single is the first release from the singer’s forthcoming fifth studio album, and her first since 2021’s Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-produced “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.” Her fifth album will be released under Columbia Records, with whom she signed last year after parting ways with her longtime label, Capitol Music Group.
See Halsey’s post below:
Source Agencies