The Great Impersonator - Halsey recreates iconic Aaliyah picture
'Queen, baby girl' - Halsey recreated Aaliyah's 2001 album cover to promote her upcoming project, 'The Great Impersonator'.
Singer Halsey is counting down to the release of her new album, 'The Great Impersonator', by sharing the inspiration behind some of the songs.
The 30-year-old's latest post spotlights track 17, 'Letter to God (1998)', which is inspired by Aaliyah's hit single, 'Are You That Somebody'.
"I layered this song with vocals from my son when he was a baby," Halsey said. Her son, Ender, whom she shares with Alev Aydin, was born in 2021.
Halsey's upcoming album has 18 songs and is shaping up to be one of her most personal projects to date.
"The new album takes place across decades," she revealed. It has also been described as a confessional concept album.
"I made this record in the space between life and death. And it feels like I’ve waited an eternity for you to have it," Halsey wrote on Facebook.
Day 13 of counting down to #TheGreatImpersonator, October 25th
— h (@halsey) October 19, 2024
THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #13: queen baby girl Aaliyah
TRACK 17: Letter to God (1998)
Fun fact: I layered this song with vocals from my son when he was a baby, inspired by "Are You That Somebody” pic.twitter.com/3dQGNDSiW4
Aaliyah's fans praised Halsey for recognising the late singer in such a special way.
"Goosebumps. I have goosebumps. Both the song and this impersonation. OMG," one Instagram user wrote.
Another user commented: "Visionary, genius, can’t wait for the new album!"
Halsey has impersonated several of her favourite artists over the past few weeks to celebrate her album.
"The countdown to 'The Great Impersonator' begins. From now till the album drops on October 25th, I will be impersonating a different icon every day and teasing a snippet of the song they inspired," she said earlier this month.
The 'Without Me' hitmaker has recreated images of Dolly Parton, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Cher, David Bowie, and Amy Lee.
However, Halsey's impersonation of Britney Spears earned her major criticism online. The album's lead single, 'Lucky', samples Britney's song of the same name.
The song's music video also recreates some of the visuals from Britney's video. Britney slammed Halsey's music video, which featured a shot of Halsey removing her pink wig to reveal short hair.
"For obvious reasons, I’m very upset about the Halsey video. I feel harassed, violated and bullied. I didn’t know an artist like her and someone I looked up to and admired would illustrate me in such an ignorant way by tailoring me as a superficial pop star with no heart or concern at all. I have my own health problems which is why I took down my IG account," a post from Britney's X account reads.
The post was later deleted, and Britney returned to X to say it was not her.
"Fake news !!! That was not me on my phone !!! I love Halsey, and that’s why I deleted it," the 'Stronger' singer wrote.
Halsey released four songs from her new album, including 'I Never Loved You', on October 11. 'The Great Impersonator' will debut on Friday, October 25.
HOW TO LISTEN TO EAST COAST RADIO
1. Listen to East Coast Radio on the FM (frequency modulation) spectrum between 94 and 95 FM on your radio.
2. Listen live to ECR by clicking here or download the ECR App (iOS/Android).
3. Listen to East Coast Radio on the DStv audio bouquet, channel 836.
4. Switch to the audio bouquet on your Openview decoder and browse to channel 606
5. Listen to us on Amazon Alexa
.Follow us on social media:
Main image credit: Instagram/iamhalsey (Photographer Sarah Pardini)