Halsey has revealed the ‘full circle’ moment when Britney Spears’ gave her the green light to use one of her songs.
The pop star, 29, whose new single Luck is inspired by the Britney tune of the same name, said it was a magical moment because she was a fan of the star during her childhood.
Speaking to Jordan North on the Capital Breakfast Show, Halsey, whose real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, said she was ‘nervous’ ahead of asking for Britney’s blessing.
The song touches on her attempts to keep up a glittering public façade while secretly battling lupus and a rare T-cell disorder.
Halsey said: ‘You know going through all of these possible samples and interpolations, I landed on, especially with Britney, one of the craziest ones of all time.
Halsey has revealed on Thursday how she got Britney Spears ‘ blessing for her new single Lucky and opened up about her ‘serious illness’
The pop star, 29, who has released the song which is inspired by the Britney tune of the same name from year 2000, said she was ‘nervous’ ahead of asking for Britney’s blessing
‘I remember thinking when we were doing it “how has this not been done before?” “has this been done before? Is there a reason this hasn’t been done before? Am I about to bark up a tree of disappointment where I fall in love with this song and there’s a reason it hasn’t been sampled in a really big way yet?”
‘So I was really nervous and ultimately when I got the blessing from Britney and Max Martin, who was involved in the original version of the song, having them on board I was like, every single day of the process I was waiting for someone to be like “just kidding” “you won’t get to do it anymore”, every day was approaching the release, and they like it, they like the song, and I’m talking to them.
‘It was so full circle there’s a six-year-old girl inside my soul who used to dress up and do performances for my Grandparents in the living room to Britney Spears song.
‘To be in this situation now, in a bittersweet way because obviously the song is such a beautiful memory and it’s an honour to reimagine it in this way, especially because it’s an already perfect record. And to relate to the perspective of the song, is not something I could have anticipated when I was so young. I had no idea.’
Halsey detailed how she related to Lucky as she faced a ‘serious illness’ and spent hours in ‘hospital attached to tubes and wires’.
Britney’s single Lucky was about a Hollywood starlet who appears to lead a charmed life while concealing the pain ‘in her lonely heart.’
Britney’s original song Lucky includes the chorus: ‘She’s so lucky, she’s a star, but she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking: “If there’s nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?”‘
Halsey switched the lyric to first person for her own single, crooning: ‘But I’m so lucky, I’m a star, but I cry, cry, cry in the lonely heart thinking: “If there’s nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?”‘
The song touches on her attempts to keep up a glittering public façade while secretly battling lupus and a rare T-cell disorder
She said: ‘I was really nervous and ultimately when I got the blessing from Britney, I was like, every single day of the process I was waiting for someone to be like “just kidding”’
She added: ‘It was so full circle there’s a six-year-old girl inside my soul who used to dress up and do performances for my Grandparents in the living room to Britney Spears song’
She continued: ‘It was about a time in my life when I was dealing with a serious illness and I took some time off from music. Time I was not anticipating taking off. It hit me out of nowhere.
‘I found myself sarcastically singing ‘lucky’ because I would be like in the hospital attached to tubes and wire and would be like “I’m so lucky”.’
Although Halsey previously said she got Britney’s ‘blessing’ for the reference, Britney posted a furious social media message in response to the new song, saying she felt ‘violated’ and threatening to sue.
Britney later deleted the post and claimed it was uploaded by someone else. ‘Fake news !!! That was not me on my phone !!! I love Halsey and that’s why I deleted it,’ she tweeted.
Halsey quickly responded to the singer’s second post and shared on X: ‘and I love Britney!!!!’
Earlier this year, Halsey confirmed her health battle to her fans.
In a post shared to Instagram at the time, she explained, ‘In 2022, I was first diagnosed with Lupus SLE and then a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder.’
‘Both of which are currently being managed or in remission; and both of which I will likely have for the duration of my life.’
However, she positively added, ‘After a rocky start, I slowly got everything under control with the help of amazing doctors.
Halsey detailed how she related to Lucky as she faced a ‘serious illness’ and spent hours in ‘hospital attached to tubes and wires’
Although Halsey previously said she got Britney’s ‘blessing’ for the reference, Britney posted a furious social media message in response to the new song, saying she felt ‘violated’ and threatening to sue (pictured 2018)
Britney later deleted the post and claimed it was uploaded by someone else. ‘Fake news !!! That was not me on my phone !!! I love Halsey and that’s why I deleted it,’ she tweeted
‘After 2 years, I’m feeling better and I’m more grateful than ever to have music to turn to,’ the mother-of-one continued. ‘I can’t wait to get back where I belong: With you all. Singing and screaming my heart out.’
In a separate post, she also opened up about her health battle in series of videos that appeared to document the singer receiving infusions and also showed her breaking down in tears.
In 2022, Halsey shared on Instagram that she had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Sjogre’s syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome – known as MCAS – and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, known as POTS.
The singer also suffers from endometriosis, and gave her followers an update earlier this year in March after undoing a procedure.
The Bad At Love singer has also previously revealed her ADHD and bipolar disorder diagnosis.
