Halsey Strips Naked and Goes Blonde in New Music Video for 'You Should Be Sad'
Halsey's latest song comes from her upcoming album Manic which hits shelves Jan. 17
Halsey is paying tribute to some favorite music icons and stripping down in the sexy music video for her newest single, “You Should Be Sad,” which dropped early on Friday.
The 25-year-old singer’s latest single — which comes from her upcoming album Manic, hitting shelves Jan. 17 — shows a new, country-inspired side of the artist.
In the music video for the empowering break-up anthem, directed by Colin Tilley, Halsey plays four different personas which allude to her own “badass idols,” the artist explained in a tweet on Friday following the video release.
The video kicks off with Halsey heading into an underground western nightclub wearing only a black studded bikini, complete with western boots, a cowboy hat and a chain necklace.
The sultry scene where Halsey is seen line-dancing with other half-dressed performers is a nod to Christina Aguilera’s infamous 2002 “Dirrty” music video.
The artist then changes into a Shania Twain-inspired outfit, wearing a black dress and elbow-length gloves with her hair styled in an up-do featuring bangs. The channeled look is influenced by Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” 1999 music video.
Halsey pays tribute to Twain once again in the following scene, wearing a take on her iconic leopard print outfit alluding to the country artist’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” video. Halsey — born Ashley Frangipane — throws on a long red wig and sports the full leopard look complete with a matching hooded robe, gloves and leggings.
The “Without Me” singer’s final persona strips completely nude and saddles up onto a white horse while wearing a Cher-esque long platinum blonde wig.
According to Halsey, the look is “actually is a [Lady] Gaga reference” she added in her tweet about the video.
“It’s me referencing Gaga who was referencing Bianca Jagger in AHS Hotel,” the singer explained, noting Lady Gaga‘s role in American Horror Story: Hotel, the fifth season of the AHS franchise.
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The release of “You Should Be Sad” comes after Halsey’s first-ever American Music Awards win. The singer took home the award for favorite pop/rock song for her hit single “Without Me.” During her emotional acceptance speech, Halsey seemingly called out the Recording Academy for her 2020 Grammys snub.
“I grew up watching shows like this and I would sit at home wide-eyed and watch artists in these beautiful gowns and handsome suits, like, stroll up the stairs to the stage and they would hold up these awards and they were usually gold-plated and shiny and weighted, these, like, metaphors, these trophies that were supposed to be some kind of validation for the soul-crushing and heartache-inducing work that they put into writing a song and bringing it to life. And to be honest with you, I really believed that fairy tale,” Halsey began.
“I believed these awards. When I was a kid, I used to believe that this award was the ultimate validating and that I’d come up here and laugh and cry and my fans at home would rejoice because we accomplished this thing together,” she continued. “But the truth is I am older now and I’m also an artist and apparently I’m doing okay. But most of these awards really aren’t what they seem at all.”
On Wednesday, however, Halsey was nominated for multiple iHeartRadio music awards. The singer scored nods in six different categories, including female artist of the year.