Halsey

She’s taking over the music world, but how much do you really know about Halsey? We’ve got you covered with almost everything you need to know about the Without Me star.

- Verus Ferreira

Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, popularly known as Halsey, is an American pop artist and songwriter. Her father, Chris Frangipane, is of African-American and Irish ancestry, while her mother, Nicole, is of Italian, Irish and Hungarian heritage. Her mother works for security in a hospital while her father manages a car dealership. Halsey has two brothers.

Born in Edison, New Jersey, Halsey learnt to play the violin, viola and cello, moving on to the acoustic guitar when she was 14 years old. A quiet child, she had to move to different places in the U.S. as her parents took odd jobs that made travel and stay difficult at one place. Into her early teens, while in high school, she was bullied often by other students, so much so that she once attempted suicide which led to a 17-day hospitalization. Following this, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, similar to her mother.

When she was 17, she began living with her boyfriend on Halsey Street in Brooklyn. It’s probably this street name or a reference to Halsey Street station of the New York City subway that made her pick the name Halsey. It is also claimed that her name is an anagram of her first name, Ashley. It was here that she first began to love music and take interest in it.

In 2012, she completed her schooling from Warren Hills Regional High School in New Jersey. She enrolled in Rhode Island School of Design, but fell short of money and could not continue the course.

From there it was community college which was also short-lived. Back home Halsey’s parents were against the life she was leading. She was asked to leave the family home. She moved in with her now ex-boyfriend's friends who lived in a basement in lower Manhattan, and at times in a shelter for homeless people in New York.