In illness, Halsey tells deep truths on ambitious, reflective 'The Great Impersonator'

"Long story short, I'm lucky to be alive," are the words Halsey chose to introduce their fifth studio album, The Great Impersonator.

- AP

Born Ashley Frangipane, the pop singer who uses she/they pronouns shared the note on Instagram in June, later revealing she'd been privately battling both a form of lupus and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder since 2022. The Great Impersonator, out Friday, is a chronicle of that time, made in the space of survival. And it wasn't only health crises and treatment threatening their well-being: Across the last two years, she was also dropped from her longtime label and separated from the father of their son.

In some ways, The Great Impersonator is an artifact of someone not sure they'll live to make another record. It's full of reflection, from the early days of her career, the whirlwind that followed and the existential wisdom that comes when cutting it close to death.