- Halsey released new song “The End” on Tuesday
- The singer/songwriter revealed in the lyrics and her social media posts surrounding the release that she is suffering from serious health issues
- Halsey will donate proceeds from “The End” to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as well as the Lupus Research Alliance
Halsey is “lucky to be alive.”
On Tuesday, June 4, the pop star, 29, shared “The End” — the first new single from their forthcoming fifth studio album — along with a caption revealing that they’ve been suffering from serious health issues.
She captioned an Instagram carousel“long story short, i’m Lucky to be alive. short story long, i wrote an album. it begins with The End. out now. @lupusresearchalliance @llsusa.”
Alongside the release of the track, the social media post Halsey — who uses she/they pronouns — shared featured photos and videos of the singer-songwriter receiving medical treatment and recording.
In the first video, the “Colors” singer can be seen massaging their legs saying, “I feel like an old lady. I told myself I’m giving myself two more years to be sick. By 30 I’m having a rebirth, and I’m not gonna be sick, and I’m gonna look super hot and have lots of energy and I’m just gonna re-do my 20s in my 30s. Seriously.”
Halsey shared a photo of themselves with a mask on during “day one” of treatment, a text conversation with someone featuring their new single, a clip of them in the dark playing acoustic guitar and recording “The End,” and a highlight reel of their emotional highs and lows during treatment and the making of her new song.
Written by Halsey and produced by the singer-songwriter, Michael Uzowuru and Alex G, “The End” is a haunting, gritty folk number carried by their raw vocals and acoustic guitar.
In the song, the MaXXXine star references the confusion of their ailments singing, “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.”
Later, Halsey explains “there’s poison in my brain and in my blood.”
At the end of the track, she addresses her own mortality: “When I met you, I said I would never die / But the joke was always mine ’cause I’m racing against time / And I know it’s not the end of the world, but could you pick me up at 8? / ‘Cause my treatment starts today.”
Halsey will donate proceeds from “The End” to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as well as the Lupus Research Alliance and tagged them in her social media posts as well. She has not disclosed a specific diagnosis at this time.
Halsey “The End” Artwork.
Columbia Records
In May 2022 Halsey revealed they had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome and POTS (postural tachycardia syndrome). They have also been open about their struggle with endometriosis.
In April 2023, she cut ties with her longtime record label, Capitol Records.
“After 8 great years the decision to leave Capitol is bittersweet, but we are excited about exploring a new partnership and sharing new music with fans,” Halsey’s managers, Jason Aron and Anthony Li of Anti-Pop, told PEOPLE in a statement.
The “Lilith” artist released their last album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power— a visual album produced by Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — in 2021.
Halsey’s fifth studio album will be their first on Columbia Records, per Rolling Stone.
