Pop megastar Halsey booked hardcore shows when she was 16

Halsey in 2024 — (Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Halsey says she booked metal and hardcore shows during her teens.

In a video filmed during a fan meet-and-greet (watch below), the 30-year-old Without Me singer says she “super-fuck[s] with hardcore”, before adding that she used to promote shows by the likes of The Devil Wears Prada and August Burns Red.

“I used to promote hardcore shows,” she says (via The PRP). “In Jersey before I started making music. I did a lot of hardcore, but then also some of the more commercial hardcore. The biggest show I ever booked, I was 16, was like August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada.”

Halsey has long been an admirer of heavy and alternative music. In a 2020 post on X (formerly Twitter), she revealed she used to be a “scene kid”.

“I miss the confidence I had as a scene kid in 2009,” she wrote. “My hair? Terrible. Make up? Worse. Desperate need for attention? Same as it’s always been. High-functioning depression? Intact. But the CONFIDENCE....whew…”

After finding fame as a musician in the mid-2010s, the singer went on to collaborate with several alt artists. In 2019 she made a surprise appearance on Bring Me The Horizon’s studio release Music To Listen To…. Her contribution to the soundtrack for 2020 superhero film Bird Of Prey, Experiment On Me, was produced and co-written by Bring Me singer Oli Sykes and then-member Jordan Fish.

In addition, Halsey’s 2021 album – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power – was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails. The song Honey featured Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters on drums.

The singer released her latest album, The Great Impersonator, in October. It reached number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and received positive reviews, including a four-star write-up from Louder’s Emily Swingle.

“It’s a testament to Halsey’s individuality and ferocity as an artist,” Swingle wrote, “and, beneath each mask, The Great Impersonator is broiling with a confidence that feels utterly Halsey.”

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♬ original sound - Christian Leyva

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.