Halsey broke down into tears while sharing her secret health battle with fans on Tuesday, June 4.
“Long story short, I’m Lucky to be alive,” Halsey, 29, captioned a series of videos via Instagram documenting her health journey. “Short story long, I wrote an album. It begins with The End. out now.”
While the “Without Me” singer didn’t share her exact diagnosis, she tagged the Lupus Research Alliance and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in her post.
Halsey revealed in one clip that she felt “like an old lady” during her illness and treatment.
“I told myself I’m giving myself two more years to be sick. [When] I’m 30, I’m having a rebirth,” she declared while rubbing down her legs on the couch. “I’m not going to be sick. I’m going to look super-hot and have lots of energy. I’m just going to get to redo my 20s and 30s.”
Halsey documented “day 1” of her treatment in a second clip. She proceeded to give fans glimpses of her hospital stays, including moments of crying, smiling and sleeping during the highs and lows.
In a lighter moment, the singer shared a video of herself in the studio working on her new track, “The End,” which she wrote during the hard season of her life. Fans can listen to the full song now.
Halsey’s boyfriend, Avan Jogia, was one of the first people to show her support via social media on Tuesday. “I love you and am so proud of you 🖤,” he wrote in the comments section.
Rita Ora also sent her well wishes, replying, “I hope your ok beautiful lady ❤️.”
Halsey, meanwhile, teased that new music was coming on Monday, June 3, and hinted that this record was an important one for a personal reason.
“I’m releasing the first song off my 5th album tomorrow 6/04 at 9am pt / 12 et. Before the first single comes, I wanted to share this,” she wrote via Instagram alongside a promo photo for the song. “It means a lot to me and I love it. Let’s try something different this time and start at ‘The End.’”
Listening to the song, it’s clear that Halsey has been through a lot in recent years. In addition to her recent treatments, Halsey revealed in 2018 that she was diagnosed with endometriosis.
In “The End,” Halsey depicts her struggle in her own words, 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.”
Halsey seemingly gives Jogia, whom she’s been dating since summer 2023, a shout-out on the song as well. “When I met you, I thought I was damaged goods / Had a f–ked up childhood / And there’s poison in my brain and in my blood,” she sings.
“If you knew it was the end of the world / Could you love me like a child? / Could you hold me in the dark?” the chorus asks.
Halsey appears to get her answer from Jogia in the second verse, singing, “So I ran into the clinic and I asked to see the man / With his white coat and his stethoscope / Like a snake around his hand / And I told him I’m not bitter ’cause I finally found a lover / Who’s better for my liver, and now I’ll finally recover.”
