Ashley Nicollete Frangipane (professionally known as Halsey) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and artist. Since getting her start from the internet music scene in the mid 2010s, she has built a career around music that draws from her own experiences with sexuality, mental health, gender, and illness.
Halsey was born in Edison, New Jersey, and began writing music as a teenager. She developed an online following by posting songs to platforms like SoundCloud and Tumblr. Her breakout came with the song “Ghost”, which helped lead to a record deal with the label Astralwerks and the release of the EP Room 93 in 2014. A year later, her debut album Badlands debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and established her as a major upcoming artist. Her popularity grew when she collaborated with The Chainsmokers and released “Closer”, which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Halsey a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Since the beginning of her career, Halsey has been very open about being bi, but discovered that visibility didn’t necessarily protect her from hurtful bi stereotypes and bi erasure. In a 2015 interview with the Los Angeles Times, she pushed back against the media’s tendency to reduce her identity to what they called the “tri-bi” label (bisexual/biracial/bipolar). She objected to having parts of her life turned into a harmful stereotypical slogan, saying that she wouldn’t trivialize her existence into a hashtag.
Her bisexuality became even more prominent in her music with the release of her album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, in 2017. Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, the album included lyrics about relationships involving characters of different genders, but the song “Strangers,” a duet with fellow bi singer Lauren Jauregi, became the clear example of bi representation. When asked about the song, Halsey mentioned that she wanted another queer woman on the track, and it was about “two women who have a mainstream pop presence doing a love song for the LGBT community.”
Halsey has also been direct about the bi erasure that she has experienced while dating. As her relationships with men received more media attention, a lot of people began questioning whether she was still bi. She responded on social media, summarizing the impossible standard that is applied to bi people, if she dates a man, she is assumed to be straight; if she dates a woman, she is assumed to be lesbian.
That experience became a part of her acceptance speech when she received the Outstanding Musical Artist award at the 2018 GLAAD Media Awards. In a pre-recorded video, she addressed the criticism that she was not “queer” enough, because much of her previously known dating history had been with men. She explained that bi people often face pressure to “prove” their sexuality and discussed the frustration of having their sexuality questioned constantly, despite using their music and public platform to represent bi experiences.
Halsey has continued to expand her musical sound beyond electropop. In 2020, she released Manic, which included the single “Without Me,” which charted at No. 1. That year, she also published the poetry collection I Would Leave Me if I Could, testing the waters with her written work. Her collection of poetry made her a New York Times best-selling author. She returned to the studio with If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power in 2021, which was produced by Trent Reznor, and veered more into alternative rock. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. That year, she also launched the cosmetics brand about-face.
Her fifth studio album, The Great Impersonator, was released after a period in which Halsey faced a bout of serious health problems. This concept album imagines how her music might have sounded if she were an artist in different decades, and is heavily inspired by her battle with her health, motherhood, and relationships. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. In late 2025, Halsey returned to Badlands for the album’s 10th anniversary and set a Back to Badlands tour. The album has been certified double platinum by the RIAA, as well as two of its singles, “Colors”, and “Gasoline”.
Halsey’s bisexuality has remained a visible part of her life and career. She has written openly about relationships with women, collaborated with other bi artists, and repeatedly challenged the erasure and stereotypes bi people face daily. At the same time, her evolving conversations about gender and sexuality have helped open broader discussions about what bi and queer visibility can look like, without forcing people into labels and boxes. More than 10 years after entering the public spotlight, Halsey remains one of pop’s most prominent openly bi performers, with her sexuality influencing her music and advocacy while remaining just a part of her constantly evolving body of work.