Halle Bailey is a singer and performer who is one half of the singing group Chloe x Halle, which also includes her sister Chlöe Bailey. The duo gained popularity by releasing music videos on YouTube and winning the Radio Disney singing competition Next Big Thing. They have received five Grammy nominations, including Best Urban Contemporary Album for 2018’s The Kids Are Alright and Best Progressive R&B Album for 2020’s Ungodly Hour.
Halle also won a 2024 nomination for her solo single “Angel.” Halle, a young performer, has played Sky Forster in the TV program Grown-ish, Ariel in Disney’s live-action film The Little Mermaid, and a minor role in 2023’s The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker‘s 1982 novel.
Early Life
Halle Lynn Bailey was born on March 27, 2000 in Atlanta. Her parents, Courtney and Doug Bailey, reared her in nearby Mableton. Halle has three siblings: older sisters Ski and Chlöe, and little brother Branson.
Halle has stated that her name was inspired by actor Halle Berry. “There’s no one else I would rather have a similar name to cause she’s so cool,” she added of the actress. Bailey informed TV broadcasters Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos in 2023 that her parents intended to name her Hailey, but it wouldn’t work due to her similar-sounding last name.
Her interest in performing began at a young age as she watched her sister Chlöe sing, dance, and act. Their first performance together was at Spelman College’s summer camp when Halle was five and Chlöe was seven. Halle, like Chlöe, began her acting career as a child, performing in advertisements and the 2006 film Last Holiday with Queen Latifah. A year later, she appeared in two episodes of Tyler Perry‘s sitcom House of Payne.
However, the sisters’ primary emphasis was on music. When Halle and Chlöe were 8 and 10 years old, respectively, their father, a stockbroker with no ties to the entertainment world, began training them to write songs. The siblings also learned to play musical instruments by watching video instructions on YouTube. Halle enjoys playing electric guitar and cites Lenny Kravitz and Jimi Hendrix as influences.
Although the two sisters started singing together in Atlanta, Courtney and Doug chose to relocate their family to Los Angeles in 2012 to provide the aspiring musicians greater possibilities.
Chloe x Halle
When Halle was 11, she and her sister started performing music covers and posted them to YouTube. In 2011, older sister Ski filmed their debut video, a cover of Beyoncé‘s “Best Thing I Never Had”. Their performance of another Beyoncé song, “Pretty Hurts,” went viral in 2013 and has now received over 22 million views.
The twins, now known as Chloe x Halle, gained popularity for their music after appearing on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show in April 2012. In the same year, the duo won the Radio Disney music competition “Next Big Thing” and appeared on a Disney Channel series. In 2013, they played their own song “Unstoppable” on a Season 2 episode of the kid sitcom Austin & Ally.
The siblings also attracted Beyoncé’s attention, when the pop singer shared their “Pretty Hurts” cover on Facebook in 2014. A year later, she signed Chloe x Halle to a $1 million deal with her label, Parkwood Entertainment.
In April 2016, the sisters participated in the iconic singer’s music video for “Lemonade” and days after released their debut EP, Sugar Symphony. They also opened for Beyoncé on the European leg of her Formation tour.
Halle and her sister were ready to become true stars now that they had the backing of one of music’s biggest superstars. Chloe x Halle’s 2017 mixtape, The Two of Us, was named one of Rolling Stone’s top R&B albums of the year. They produced the theme song “Grown” for the Freeform series “Grown-ish,” which premiered in January 2018.
Following the success of their 2018 album The Kids Are Alright, they garnered nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Urban Contemporary Album. In February 2019, they performed “America the Beautiful” at Super Bowl LIII.
The duo’s 2020 album, Ungodly Hour, was a huge success, propelling them to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with the single “Do It.” In 2021, the sisters got three more Grammy nominations, including Best R&B Song, Best Progressive R&B Album, and Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Around this time, the siblings established separate Instagram accounts and began to concentrate on their own music and acting careers. Nonetheless, they have collaborated on limited engagements and brand endorsements since then, and as late as August 2023, they discussed a third Chloe x Halle album.
Movies and TV Shows
Beyond music, Halle and Chlöe have worked together as actors. In addition to their musical contribution to Grown-ish, the sisters had regular appearances in the dramedy series as twin sisters Sky (Halle) and Jazz (Chlöe).
Halle featured in 53 episodes over four seasons, revealing her actual acting skills and impressing her sister. “Sometimes you’ll say lines, and I’ll think I’m just having a regular conversation with her,” Chlöe told the Los Angeles Times. “She can make it feel so real and authentic to the point where her own sister, who is constantly with her, forgets that we’re acting.” Halle received an NAACP Image Award nomination for the role in 2020.
The Little Mermaid
In July 2019, Disney confirmed Halle’s first starring role as Ariel in a live-action remake of the 1989 animation classic The Little Mermaid, following her success on the show Grown-ish.According to film director Rob Marshall, Bailey exhibited a “rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance—plus a glorious singing voice—all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role.”
However, Bailey’s casting sparked racial outrage from certain fans of the animated version, who believed that a Black actor should not play the legendary Disney princess. The hashtag #NotMyAriel began trending on Twitter, which is now known as X.
Bailey told Variety in 2022 that she was able to overcome negative comments once her grandparents discussed their own experiences with discrimination. “It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,'” she said.
The response to the 2023 film was mostly positive, with Bailey’s vocals earning praise. She also performed an original song “For the First Time” for the film’s soundtrack. Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in the 1989 cartoon, praised Bailey, saying, “She’s brilliant.” I was able to meet her a couple times and tell her how pleased I was of her, and I love that she has a pure heart and spirit, and you can feel that vulnerability, childish fearlessness, and strength shining through, and it’s lovely.”
The Color Purple
After The Little Mermaid, Bailey offered her acting and voice to another movie musical, The Color Purple (2023), based on the stage musical of the same name. Both compositions were inspired by Alice Walker’s 1982 novel. Taraji P. Henson, Ciara, Colman Domingo, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino starred in the movie, which was produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg and released in December 2023. Bailey played a young Nettie, a parallel to Ciara’s character.
Bailey co-wrote the original song “Keep It Movin'” for the film and performed it with her sister Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, as directed by Blitz Bazawule. “The movie is filled with the amazing songs already, so when I first heard that I’m like intimidated, cause you’re like, ‘How the hell am I gonna write something that lives up to all these other songs?'” Bailey stated this during an interview with Variety. “But I was really grateful for it, because I felt like I could pull from my experience with my own sister, Chlöe.”
Solo Music Career
In between her two film appearances, Bailey continued to compose music, and in August 2023, she released “Angel,” the lead single off her planned debut album. Bailey received her first solo Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song in 2024 with her song “Angel”.
Although the singer told Cosmopolitan in September 2023 that her EP would be ready by the end of the year, it has yet to be released. “It’s an emotive, vulnerable type of music. “It’s a love letter to myself, my younger self, and my future self,” Bailey explained.
Relationship
Bailey is presently dating rapper Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr., also known as DDG, who is 26 years old. In January 2022, the couple was sighted together at Usher’s Las Vegas residency and announced their romance in March. The couple has one kid, Halo, who was born in December 2023.
DDG, who is originally from Pontiac, Michigan, began his career by submitting video snippets on YouTube, as did Bailey. According to People, he signed with Epic Records in 2018 and launched his own label, Zooted Music, in 2020. Bailey claims she was a fan of his music for years before the two met through a direct message on social media. She also starred in his 2022 music video for the song “If I Want You.”
Fans and the media have speculated about the couple and their relationship for a variety of reasons. In July 2023, DDG blasted Bailey’s The Little Mermaid press tour in his new song, “Famous,” with lines like, “Why are y’all holdin’ hands in the photo?” You know I’m insecure; that’s a no-no.” The line was thought to be referring to a photo of Bailey holding hands with her co-star, Jonah Hauer-King.
Later that year, Bailey wore a strategically designed black and white dress to the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in October 2023, prompting speculation that she was pregnant. Neither Bailey nor DDG verified or refuted the rumors until January 6, 2024, when Bailey announced Halo’s birth on Instagram. In a subsequent YouTube video, DDG praised Bailey as a “great mom” and stated that he would not choose anyone else to have a child with.