Halsey is very sick: 'Lucky to be alive'
The American singer Halsey, a stage name for Ashley Ashley Frangipane, dropped a bombshell in early June. Without giving the details, she indicated on her social media that she was very sick.
The singer posted a series of videos on her Instagram account in which we can see her getting treatment for what looks like a serious illness. Next to the videos, it says: "Long story short: I'm lucky to be alive."
In the first video, Halsey looks relaxed and optimistic, although we see her rubbing her muscles in pain and having several bottles of medicine in front of her. Jokingly, she says she feels like "an old lady."
Other video sequences are more painful. Halsey clearly visited the hospital many times and endured tough treatments for the illnesses she's had. But what exactly is the diagnosis?
Although she doesn't explicitly name the illnesses she's suffering from, Halsey tags the Lupus Research Alliance and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in her post. She also made donations to these two organizations, The Guardian notes. It implies that the 29-year-old singer is battling leukemia and lupus.
Leukemia is a blood cancer that causes "the rapid growth of abnormal blood cells... in your bone marrow," the Cleveland Clinic explains. It doesn't generate (treatable) tumors like other cancers do, because it's in your blood, all through your body.
Lupus is a more common illness, not as dangerous as leukemia, but still very harmful for different parts of your body - including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart, and lungs, the Mayo Clinic explains.
See the surprising number of superstars who have lupus or other autoimmune diseases
Halsey was very sick before, and she struggled for a long time to get a diagnosis for her illness. In 2022, she wrote another openhearted Instagram post explaining that, after years of pain, she finally knew what was wrong with her.
"I've been sick. For a long time," the then-27-year-old singer revealed in 2022. "My sicknesses just have their names now." As The Guardian reports, doctors then established a rare connective tissue ailment, immune disorders, and a heart disease in the star's body. Before that, she had been diagnosed with endometriosis. A very tough life for a twenty-something!
The struggle to find a cure was psychologically taxing. Halsey felt that she was not taken seriously. "I went to doctors for 8 years. Trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was called crazy and anxious and lazy amongst other things. I changed my entire lifestyle."
Now, finally, she can point at the diseases that tie many of her previous diagnoses together. Halsey must be going through a rough patch, but she's also brave by telling her followers openly about her struggles.
As she says in the video, "I told myself I'm giving myself two more years to be sick. And [at age] 30 ... I'm having a rebirth and I’m not gonna be sick and I’m gonna look super hot and have lots of energy," the singer said optimistically. "I'm just gonna get to redo my twenties in my thirties."
Halsey had a surprising breakthrough in the pop music industry in 2015. She released four albums which all reached number 1 or 2 in the US. She also accumulated an impressive 50 billion streams across all music platforms, The Guardian reports. And she's not even 30!
Halsey has collaborated with both big and rising stars, including Benny Blanco and Khalid. She has made many friends in show business, as you can see in the comments on her Instagram post, for example by Katy Perry - "Love you sweet girl" - and Selma Blair.
In the photo you see her with her then-boyfriend, Evan Peters, in 2019.
In the post about her illnesses, Halsey also announces that - "Short story long" - she made a new album. Her first single is 'The End.'
Let's hope she can make good on her promise to 'start again' at age 30. Halsey was a very successful artist in her twenties, so the world would be well off if she 'redoes' her twenties in the coming decade!
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