Background and Early Life

Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, professionally known as Halsey, was born on September 29, 1994, in Edison, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Nicole Frangipane, an emergency medical technician, and Chris Frangipane, who managed a car dealership. Halsey has two younger brothers, Dante and Sevian.

She developed an early interest in music and began studying classical instruments like the viola, violin, and cello. At the age of 14, she transitioned to playing the acoustic guitar. Halsey graduated from Warren Hills Regional High School in 2012 and briefly attended the Rhode Island School of Design. Financial challenges led her to transfer to a community college before eventually deciding to leave school to pursue music full time.

Musical Career and Rise to Fame

Halsey found solace and expression through music, using it as a personal outlet. She experimented with several stage names before settling on "Halsey," a rearrangement of her first name and a reference to a street in Brooklyn where she spent significant time.

In 2014, she began gaining public attention while touring and performing live. That same year, she released her debut EP, Room 93, which entered the Billboard 200 chart. Early in 2015, she co-headlined a tour with Young Rising Sons and in June joined Imagine Dragons as an opening act on their Smoke + Mirrors Tour across North America. Her growing popularity was further solidified with her debut studio album, Badlands, released in August 2015.