On this day in 1994, Halsey was born

Halsey, born Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, is an American pop artist whose career began with a Taylor Swift parody.

Born on 29 September 1994 in Clark, New Jersey, Halsey began her musical journey by playing violin, viola, and cello. By the age of 14, she began playing guitar too.

She had always wanted to attend college and major in fine arts, but due to financial reasons, she opted to attend a community college where she majored in creative writing.

Her financial troubles plagued her teenage years and music became her most steady income. She performed in different cities across America, using various stage names – Halsey became her most popular one.

In 2012, Halsey received a lot of recognition with her YouTube parody, Taylor Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble. The parody, which she called The Haylor Song, was about Swift’s relationship with One Direction’s Harry Styles. The drew attention from all around the world.

She recorded a song called Ghost in 2014, which she released on SoundCloud. The hit song boosted her popularity and many recording labels came forward to sign her. She went with Astralwerks record label – a US-based record label focusing on electronic and dance music.

Her popularity has grown since then; she has won a Rising Star Award by Billboard Women in Music, and has been nominated for three more awards, including a People’s Choice Award for Favourite Breakout Artist.

Two others born on 29 September are rock singer Jerry Lee Lewis and Disney star Doug Brochu.