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We can count on Halsey to deliver some pretty impactful content through her music, but the 26-year-old singer and songwriter took it a step further for her upcoming album. For all the right reasons, the pregnant star bared her breast on the album cover art that also shows her sitting on a throne, dressed as a queen with a baby perched on her knee.
Inspired by her own journey into motherhood, the concept album — “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power” — dissects the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth. “This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired,” Halsey wrote in the caption of an Instagram post announcing the album, which comes out Aug. 27. “We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”
Halsey further explained the meaning behind the revealing cover on Instagram: “It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. 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. 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.”
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Mind you, the child on Halsey’s lap doesn’t appear to be her own, given the Instagram Stories that she shared over the weekend of herself sporting a black bikini and a big belly. But that assumption feels natural, given the collection of baby bump photos the singer has shared on social media since announcing her pregnancy in January.
Though Halsey’s pregnancy seemed unexpected, it was a dream the singer wanted for a long time. Previously, she spoke out several times about her fertility struggles and told Rolling Stone in 2019 that she considered freezing her eggs before ultimately undergoing surgery for endometriosis, a condition that may cause infertility. So naturally, her ability to conceive felt exciting. “I was like, ‘Wait, what did you just say? Did you just say I can have kids?’ It was like the reverse of finding out you have a terminal illness,” Halsey said, according to Shape. She further added that she “called my mom, crying.”
In March, Halsey explained in an Instagram Story that she “100% planned” her pregnancy. “I tried very hard for this bb,” she said. “But I would be just as happy even if it were another way.”
