Halsey fights stigma around ‘pregnant and postpartum bodies’ with regal album cover
Singer Halsey knows “we have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding.” But you can’t blame her for trying.
On Wednesday, Halsey revealed the cover of her upcoming fourth studio album, “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.”
The “Game of Thrones”-esque artwork — shot by photographer Lucas Garrido — sees the “Bad at Love” hitmaker seated on a golden throne, balancing a baby on her knee while wearing a crown and floor-length gown exposing her left breast.
In January, Halsey announced they were pregnant with a colorful photo shoot alluding to the concept of a “rainbow baby” — or a child born after a previous miscarriage.
Pop musician Halsey, who has talked openly about having a miscarriage while performing in 2015, announced on Instagram that she is pregnant again.
“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth,” the Grammy nominee wrote this week on Instagram.
“It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. ... The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully.”
The “Closer” artist is set to welcome her first child years after experiencing a miscarriage onstage during a concert in 2015. The incoming baby’s father is Halsey’s boyfriend, screenwriter Alev Aydin.
Some of the pop vocalist’s fans even speculated that the baby featured in her new album cover is her own — but that theory has been debunked by a video of Halsey unveiling a giant rendering of the image at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art with her baby bump still intact.
On Halsey’s third album, “Manic,” the streaming superstar bounces from slick K-pop to country-ish acoustic sounds.
“My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being,” Halsey continued in their Instagram caption.
“This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired. ... I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”
In 2018, Halsey opened up about being diagnosed with endometriosis — an often painful disorder of the uterus — shortly before discovering she was pregnant on her 2018 tour.
One of music’s most talked-about new artists, Halsey has come a long way in the four years since she left home at age 17.
“The next thing I knew, I was on stage miscarrying in the middle of my concert,” she said. “And the sensation of looking a hundred couple teenagers in the face while you’re bleeding through your clothes and still having to do the show ...
“In that moment, I was like, ‘I don’t ever want to have to make that choice ever again — doing what I love, or not being able to because of this disease. So I put my foot down, and I got really aggressive about seeking treatment and had surgery a year ago, and I feel a lot better.”
Halsey’s next studio album, produced by Oscar-winning musical duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, arrives Aug. 27.
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