Ranking Halsey’s The Great Impersonator Impersonations

Halsey has cracked the code on album rollouts. For her most recent album, The Great Impersonator, they recreated looks from 18 music icons. From Bruce Springsteen to Aliyah to herself each celebrity had an influence on songs from this album. Based on social media interactions, here is our ranking of Halsey’s impersonations.

18. Tori Amos

Tori Amos inspired what Halsey described as her most personal song on the album. Track 14 “Life of a Spider” is nothing but Halsey and their piano, because “that’s all Tori ever needed to rip your heart to shreds.”

17. Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt inspired track 7 “I Believe In Magic”. Halsey described this impersonation as “tribute to her endless versatility, a true chameleon 🌀.” This song features vocals from her son, Ender, and highlights the challenges of motherhood.

16. Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen inspired track 8 “Letter to God (1983),” on The Great Impersonator. In her Instagram post, Halsey said this recreation of Springsteen’s Born In the USA album shoot needed no explanation. Remarking, “I’m a Jersey,” as both she and Springsteen are New Jersey natives.

15. Joni Mitchell

Halsey described Joni Mitchell as their favorite lyricist of all time, and she inspired the track “The End”. This song was the first single of the album, but Joni Mitchell was the 14th impersonation.  The photo Halsey recreated was with a guitar which is fitting since the song is a sad acoustic song about her recent health struggles. 

14. Kate Bush

Kate Bush-inspired track 10, “I Never Loved You” is the fourth single of this album. Halsey said nothing, but that the song cut deep, and sent a promotional text that read “A woman lies ill-fated in an Emergency Room. She’s holding on with all her might, in hopes her lover will show to say goodbye. He arrives, too late and defensive. Who was driving the car that hit her?” 

13. Björk

Björk inspired track 18 “The Great Impersonator”. This is the first title track Halsey has made for an album and its ethereal sound was heavily influenced by Björk who Halsey described as “the coolest, most ethereal being to ever exist.”

12. Dolores O’Riordan

Track 2 “Ego” was inspired by Dolores O’Riordan. In the Instagram caption, Halsey stated, “Not much transformation necessary here, since I was basically born Dolores’ long lost daughter, but I couldn’t do the series without honoring this incredible woman 🕊️.”  The song is Pop rock inspired by the 90s. 

11. Stevie Nicks

“The mystical madame herself,” Stevie Nicks inspired track 5 “Panic Attack”. The song is 70s inspired with country influences. Halsey took inspiration from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors album for her recreation, and Stevie Nicks’ movements in her music video for the song. 

10. Marylin Monroe

“For the final day, I am honoring the most impersonated woman in history. A woman who eventually had to impersonate herself, day after day; asking the question ‘Want to see me become her?’” Marylin Monroe inspired the first track of the album “The Only Girl Living in LA” which is the longest song on the album. 

9. Halsey

It’s been almost 10 years since Halsey’s Badlands, and in honor of that Halsey recreated the album cover. “Hurt Feelings” was the inspired track, and the single has many references to the original album. Badlands was the first album Halsey released, and an important era for her as an artist.

8. David Bowie

“Ziggy Stardust, The Starman, The Thin White Duke, The Picasso of Pop, Major Tom, The Master of Reinvention and The Chameleon of Rock… DAVID BOWIE.” is how Halsey introduced this impersonation. David Bowie inspired track 11 “Darwinism” , a soft piano ballad where Halsey describes herself as an outsider. 

7. Fiona Apple

“Chief inspo for my entire life,” is how Halsey described Fiona Apple who inspired the song “Arsonist” on the album, but her influence can be found in many other songs as well. The song had different iterations, but in the end, Halsey rewrote the entire song with fellow songwriter Michael Uzowuru.

6. Cher

“Letter To God (1974)”  track 4 was inspired by Cher. In her Instagram post, Halsey remarked, “One of my favorite Cher songs, Dark Lady, was a number 1 hit in 1974. Still number 1 in my heart today.” The song draws inspiration from Halsey’s childhood and discusses themes of an unstable house. 

5. Aaliyah

Track 17 “Letter to God (1998)” was also inspired by iconic Pop and R&B artist Aaliyah. In the Instagram post, Halsey said she took inspiration from Aaliyah’s song “Are You That Somebody” where she layered vocals from her son. 

4. Amy Lee

Track 12 “Lonely is the Muse” was inspired by Evanescence lead Amy Lee. “My OG dark rock queen,” Halsey described her. This song was the second single released for the album and was also originally a poem, but Halsey later decided to make it a song. 

3. Britney Spears

Britney Spears inspired the song “Lucky” which is track 16 on the album. Coincidentally, Britney Spears also has a song called “Lucky” on her album “Oops!… I Did It Again”. Halsey recreated the iconic “In The Zone” album cover, and remarked she was “ The first superstar who ever inspired me.”

2. PJ Harvey

Halsey described track 3, “Dog Years” as her favorite song on the album. Inspired by PJ Harvey, who Halsey described as “one of the most influential artists of my lifetime”, the song has a 90s grunge feel. Halsey recreated PJ Harvey’s iconic look of an American Flag top.

1. Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton was the first impersonation Halsey posted, and the most popular. The inspired look was from Parton’s album Rainbow and inspired the song “Hometown” on The Great Impersonator, which has country influences. Dolly Parton also commented on the post with a classic red heart. 

The Great Impersonator dropped on Friday, October 25th. Stream on all music platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.