The Evolution of Halle Bailey

Updated January 7, 2024 at 12:28 a.m.

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It just keeps getting better for Halle Bailey. The year 2023 was huge for our favorite Disney princess , and 2024 just got bigger!

The Grammy nominee just announced the birth of her baby boy. She even included a photo of his tiny hands. A gold bracelet is wrapped around the newborn’s wrist with his name etched on it. Oh, his name is Halo. Here’s what she says on instagram:

“Even though we’re a few days into the new year, the greatest thing that 2023 could have done for me, was bring me my son…welcome to the world my halo 🥰👼🏽 ✨the world is desperate to know you 😉🤣♥️”

You got that right!

 The Little Mermaid was a box office success last year for Bailey, and this year she’s receiving positive reviews for her role in The Color Purple. Even though Bailey is just getting her flowers, she is far from a rookie in the entertainment industry. Here is her life so far.

Debut Single

Halle Bailey’s music is finally on the horizon! The superstar is finally releasing her debut solo on August 4, 2023. In the teaser for “Angel”, there are adorable clips of a young Halle performing as a child up to her young adulthood with a soft melody playing in the background.

The Little Mermaid

It was announced in 2019 that Halle Bailey would be playing the red-haired human-wannabe Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. On May 26, 2023, the movie finally premiered. The film landed an impressive box-office roundup for its Memorial Day weekend in the tune of $118 million.

Rising Style Icon

Between press tours and red carpets, Halle Bailey has risen to the occasion, dressed and hairstyled to the gods! This year, Halle walked the Met Gala by herself and became one of the best dressed of the evening, especially because of the stunning red bob she did over her locs!

The Color Purple

During Halle’s The Little Mermaid press tour, the trailer for The Color Purple was released. Halle plays Young Nettie in the film, which premiered on Christmas 2023.

Born

Halle Lynn Bailey was born on March 27, 2000, in Mableton, Georgia to Courtney and Doug Bailey. She has one older sister, Chloe Bailey, and a younger brother, Branson Bailey.

Young Artists

Their parents noticed the duo had singing chops after hearing Chloe sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” The girls’ parents started posting their local performances on Youtube. Halle is known for her light soprano voice that floats above the deep and rich vocals of her older sister.

Becoming an actress

Halle’s first acting role was as Tina in Last Holiday (2006), followed by playing Tiffany in Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2007). She was also in Let it Shine (2012) as a choir girl.

Radio Disney’s “Next Big Thing”

The duo, called Chloe X Halle were crowned as Season 5 Radio Disney’s “Next Big Thing” in 2012, a program that was used to give exposure to emerging young music artists. They were then given the opportunity to perform on the Disney show Austin & Ally for their win.

Signed by Beyoncé

The sisters were signed to Queen Bey’s Parkwood Entertainment in 2016 after they grabbed the attention of Beyoncé from their viral cover of her song “Pretty Hurts.”

The Lightskin Porch

Halle and Chloe starred in Beyonce’s music video alongside other young women in Hollywood which became a joke and criticism on the internet called the “lightskin porch”.

Solo debut

The rising had her solo singing debut at Disney World’s 50 Anniversary event, singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King.

Solo music?

Unlike her sister, Halle has not yet released solo music. She has expressed on social media and in interviews that she has been working on new music.

Albums

Halle has two studio albums with her sister, The Kids Are Alright (2018) and Ungodly Hour (2020) and a mixtape, The Two of Us (2017). They also wrote and recorded the theme song, “Grown”, for the show Grown-ish. Halle played the recurring character, Sky Forster, on the show.

Soon to be Grammy winner?

Halle and her sister have been nominated for 5 Grammy awards. Although they have yet to win, it is not far-fetched to believe that they will be accepting that award in the near future whether it’s as a duo or solo, possibly for The Little Mermaid?

Halle is the protective little sister

Although people believed Halle was the quiet little sis to Chloe, she is not the one to mess with. Her older sister has received an unfair amount of criticism for being sexual in her artistic style. Always with her Twitter fingers ready, she has clapped back on her Instagram live, calling people out for their unnecessary comments.

Dating 

Halle was familiar with her current boyfriend, DDG, from the early days of Youtube. He of course is a Youtuber turned music artist and producer. The couple even attended Beyoncé’s 41st birthday party together recently.

The Color Purple

It was announced this year that Halle will be playing Nettie in the new film adaptation of The Color Purple. The movie is set to release in 2023.

A Black Ariel

Halle was cast in 2019 as Ariel in the remake of the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid. Since the announcement there have been nonstop, blatantly racist comments made online about the decision to cast a Black woman as Ariel, with the hashtag #NotMyAriel.

Support for casting Halle

The Little Mermaid director, Rob Marshall, did come out with a statement in support of the casting, recalling when he decided to choose her for the role, “You could tell right away that she was able to harness Ariel’s passion, her fire, her soul, her joy and her heart.”

Promoting excitement and love

In order to spread positivity despite the hate, Halle has promoted the precious moments leading up to the release of the film saying in a Variety interview, “I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special, and that they should be a princess in every single way.” She recently posted a compilation video of Black girls reacting to the much-anticipated trailer that shows the first looks of herself as the mermaid, angelically singing “Part of Your World.” We can’t wait to see this movie in theaters in May 2023.