The pop star of big metal bands, Halsey, started booking as a teenager

Halsey may work in the pop world, but during her teenage years the aspiring musician actually worked as a promoter and booked hardcore shows in New Jersey.

The singer revealed this in a fan interaction during an in-store appearance for her makeup brand About Face that was circulating on TikTok.

What Halsey said about her teenage years as a music promoter

The fan reached out to Halsey and asked her about her interest in hardcore, to which the singer replied, “I’m great with hardcore.”

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

In the discussion, she revealed that she had chosen a Defeater lyric to use in her high school yearbook, but in the comments on the post she backtracked because she remembered that it was a centenarian. Lyrik acted while she had used the Defeater lyric for another commemorative moment.

Concluding the interaction, Halsey thanked the fan for asking her the question, as she felt like she didn’t get that question often. When the TikTok clip was posted, she doubled down on her statement, adding in the comments: “That was a really cool moment for me that day. Thank you.”

“The Devil Wears Prada” also took notice and left a thank you comment in the thread.

Halsey’s other rock and metal references

In 2019, Halsey was able to venture a little more into exploring her rock side when she collaborated with Bring Me the Horizon’s Oli Sykes and Jordan Fish, co-writing the track “Experiment on Me.” The song she sang was finally released on the in early 2020 Birds of prey Soundtrack. Not long after, the singer began speaking in interviews about her desire to release a rock album.

The desire to give their music more of a rock presence was expressed through the 2021 album. If I can’t have love, I want power which was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and featured contributions from Dave Grohl, Lindsey Buckingham and Dave Sitek.

READ MORE: Six pop singers who released rock albums

Then, in 2024, Halsey drew even more heavily on her influences as an artist The great imitator album in which she attempted to embody the artists that inspired each track. To promote the record, she even created the looks of some of her favorite icons and inspirations as the songs were unveiled. This included a revision that reflected evanescence Fallen Album cover when he announced the song “Lonely Is the Muse” for the album.