The pop star shared that the haunting new single is the first from their forthcoming fifth studio album.
- 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 has been suffering from serious health issues
- Halsey later revealed she had been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder
Halsey is “lucky to be alive.”
On Tuesday, June 4, the pop star, 29, shared “The End” — the first new single from her forthcoming fifth studio album — along with a heartfelt message revealing her serious health issues.
She captioned an Instagram post “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 song release, the social media post featured photos and videos of Halsey receiving medical treatment and working on her music.
In the first video, the “Colors” singer is seen massaging her legs saying, “I feel like an old lady. I told myself, give it two more years, and by 30, I’ll have a rebirth. I won’t be sick, I’ll look great, have lots of energy, and redo my 20s in my 30s. Seriously.”
Halsey shared a photo of herself with a mask on during “day one” of treatment, a text conversation with someone featuring her new single, a clip of her playing acoustic guitar and recording “The End,” and a highlight reel showing her emotional highs and lows during treatment and the song-making process.
Written by Halsey and produced by Michael Uzowuru and Alex G, “The End” is a haunting, gritty folk number carried by her raw vocals and acoustic guitar.
In the song, the MaXXXine star references the confusion of her 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 in the song, 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 did not disclose a specific diagnosis in her initial post, but in a follow-up Instagram on Wednesday, Halsey wrote that she “was first diagnosed with Lupus SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) and then a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder,” adding that both are “currently managed or in remission.”
In May 2022, Halsey revealed she had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sjogren’s syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome, and POTS (postural tachycardia syndrome). She has also been open about her 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, said in a statement.
The “Lilith” artist released her 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 her first on Columbia Records, per Rolling Stone.
