(Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Singer-actress Halle Bailey is legal-legal; she recently celebrated her 21st birthday.
To further celebrate her milestone, let’s highlight 21 things about Disney’s soon-to-be Ariel you may or may not have known.
Born in Atlanta yet raised in Los Angeles
Roughly around late 2012, Halle and her family moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles during her early teenage years. The decision to move out west was because her parents believed it was better for the now-famous duo (Chloe x Halle) career as it was just starting off. In an interview with Time Magazine, Halle said her family immediately fell in love with Los Angeles’s sparkling sun, remarking that the consistent supply of Vitamin D makes you a more joyful person.
Halle is the youngest of three sisters. Yes, three.
As many may know, Chloe and Halle aren’t twins, as portrayed on Freeform’s “Grown-ish.” Chloe is two years older than Halle, and both share an older sister, Ski, who also sings but stays out of the spotlight. They also have a younger brother, Branson, who was born in 2005.
Halle learned to sing by writing songs
Halle shared in an interview that when she was 8 years old, she and her sister wrote their own songs, which allowed them to learn their vocal ranges and tone. They also learned how to play different instruments from watching YouTube videos and tutorials online.
Halle and her sister Chloe began by doing music covers on YouTube
Chloe x Halle established their singing career at the age of 11 and 8 by posting covers to pop songs on YouTube. The dynamic duo’s cover of Beyoncé’s song “Pretty Hurts,” with over 20 million views to date, went viral five years later. They’ve been unstoppable ever since.
Halle plays the guitar
Speaking of playing instruments, Halle plays the guitar in several of the duo’s YouTube covers. She also produces the guitar instrumentals for their EPs and debut albums.
Halle’s father is ‘tone-deaf?’
As Halle’s parents are very supportive of their children’s career, she jokes that her father is “tone-deaf” when it comes to music. However, the father has helped his daughters write their lyrics from time to time, according to TheTalko.
Halle’s first film was alongside Queen Latifah
Although Halle has appeared as a choir member in “Let It Shine” and “Joyful Noise,” her first film was the 2007 rom-com, “Last Holiday” that starred Queen Latifah.
The singing sisters were Season 5 NBT Winners at Radio Disney
In 2012, Chloe x Halle were declared the winners of season 5’s Radio Disney’s N.B.T (Next BIG Thing). This competition was to spotlight young recording artists with a chance to broadcast their music across the nation and on online platforms.
Halle guest starred on the popular Disney show ‘Austin & Ally’
Being the winner of Radio’s Disney’s N.B.T has its perks. Halle was featured on Disney Channel’s “Austin & Ally,” accompanied by her sister Chloe, performing the song “Unstoppable” on season 2 on the show.
Signed to Parkwood Entertainment and became protegés of Beyoncé
Beyoncé, discovering their cover of her song, wanted to sign the sister duo to her record label. After the label sent an email two weeks after the trending cover was posted, their father talked with Parkwood Entertainment on January 2, 2014.
Halle made a cameo in Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Visual Album
Chloe x Halle were featured in the “Lemonade” presentation that inspired “Black Girl Magic” throughout the musical production. The duo told Revolt how much they fangirled and cried watching their mentor in action and her vision come to life.
Halle x Chloe performed at the 2019 Grammy Awards
Taking off tremendously since the record label signing, Chloe x Halle performed at the 2019 Grammy Awards performing “Where Is The Love,” stunning the audience with their outstanding harmonies.
No. 17 on Rolling Stone magazine’s Best R&B Albums of 2017
With the release of the recording artists’ first mixtape, “The Two of Us,” Rolling Stone scored it as number 17 to their top 20 R&B albums of 2017. Ironically, Halle was in a mermaid tail on the mixtape’s cover, foreshadowing what the future had in store for her.
Halle stars as Sky on ‘Grown-ish’
Playing one of the track star twins to her real life sister Chloe, Halle has been starring on Freeform’s show “Grown-ish” since 2018. Originally signing for recurring roles, they were later on added to be series regulars and created the theme song for the series called “Grown.” Ironic, right?
Chloe x Halle released their debut album
On March 23, 2018, the sisterly duo released their debut album, “The Kids Are Alright,” which was written and executive produced entirely by them.
Opening Act for Beyoncé’s “On the Run II” Tour
Alongside DJ Khaled, Chloe x Halle were the opening act for Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s tour announced in 2018. They also performed as the opening act in Beyoncé’s “Formation World Tour in 2016.”
Opened for Michelle Obama’s SXSW keynote
Former First Lady Michelle Obama discovered the sisters through her daughters and has worked with them ever since for her charity “This Is For My Girls.” The duo performed live for FLOTUS as the first opening act to the SXSW keynote, which led them to perform at Barack Obama‘s White House during Halle’s Sweet 16 weekend. Beyoncé and daughter Blue ivy made a surprise visit.
Halle she graduated from high school while doing all of this
As her sister, Chloe Bailey, decided to earn her GED, Halle chose to graduate from a regular, smegular high school in June 2018. Her sister, along with many others, celebrated this victorious moment via their at-the-time shared Twitter. Halle graduated while doing standard high school stuff like releasing two EPs, creating their Grammy-nominated debut album, performing as the opening act on two on world tours, and starring on a popular TV show.
Chloe x Halle opened at 2019’s Super Bowl LIII
As if the famous duo would stop there, they later performed at the 2019’s Super Bowl LIII, singing “America the Beautiful” during the kickoff. This was viewed by more than 98 million people, in addition to the thousands of fans in attendance.
The 2nd person of color to play a white princess
While many of us know Halle is set to play Ariel in the live action film, she will be the second person of color, specifically Black woman, to play a white princess (singer and actress Brandy was the first for Cinderella). Numerous Black girls rejoiced when Halle was casted for the role.
Halle Bailey finally has her own Instagram account
She and her sister decided to create separate Instagram accounts to continue showcasing their talents and daily lives to their die-hard fans. Recently, Halle posted an a cappella cover of SWV’s “Rain” on TikTok and Twitter that had the Internet shook. This is merely only a snippet of what we will see when the live action film debuts.