Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, better known by her stage name of Halsey, has been one of the most transparent artists to make their way to the forefront of the pop scene. The 25-year-old artist turned activist has been open about her bisexuality, her struggles with mental health, and her experience with her sexually-fluid significant other. This is why a photoshoot featuring herself dressed up as some of the most iconic musical men in history doesn’t come as far-fetched to the minds aware of her essence.
In an exclusive pictorial and article with The Advocate entitled, “Halsey Explores Gender Expression By Channeling Legends Like Bowie,” Halsey embodied several male musical icons of yesteryear including Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and Mick Jagger.
Halsey was given complete creative control and wanted to curate an homage to the legendary artists that inspire her as a creative as well as allowed her to experiment with her “evolving gender expression.” The gender-fluid pop phenom also did all of her own makeup for the project. While speaking with the publication, the “Sorry” singer spoke on how rare it is for women to dress in drag stating,
“I don’t really see females dressing in real drag very often in editorial print. This is something I want to do. As a performer, I have looked up to or looked into those men—looking for a form of identity building for so long. It never really occurred to me that I shouldn’t… I’ve always really identified with being an androgynous performer,” she continued. “To this day, it blows my mind how unabashedly feminine (Jagger) was and still is.”
Halsey also spoke on being biracial, bipolar, and bisexual, and constantly having to justify her identity,
“It was almost like people wanted proof (of her identities). They wanted to see me have a mental breakdown to prove I have bipolar disorder… I felt myself wanting to give in to that (to prove myself). It became difficult to establish what was performative because I felt like I had a responsibility to defend and to represent.”
Check out some of the photos from Halsey’s self-curated photoshoot with The Advocate in the photos provided below.
