Halsey has brought The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard on stage in London for a duet of ‘Naive’ – check it out below.
READ MORE: Halsey – ‘The Great Impersonator’ review: a brutal but brilliant reckoning with chronic illness
The moment took place on Sunday night (February 1), as the singer took to the stage as part of the ongoing ‘Back To Badlands’ anniversary tour. The shows kicked off in the US in October, and has since moved across the pond, with all dates celebrating 10 years of their ‘Badlands’ debut album.
While on stage at the Brixton Academy, Halsey was 26-songs through their huge 31-song setlist, and had just wrapped up an acoustic rendition of ‘Trouble’ when they teased a cover of The Kooks’ song ‘Seaside’.
Halsey only played the first verse and chorus of that track, before sharing how British artists like Oasis and The Stone Roses were inspirational to her, she said: “Actually the very first tour I ever went on, I was opening for an English band. Did you guys know that? The Kooks!”
“It was my first tour ever, I was 19 years old. I turned 20 on the tour… I don’t know why they let me do it,” she added. “I’d never played a show before. I was like ‘hey’… I didn’t have an album out. Nothing. I would play like five songs and do a cover of The Killers“.
From there, she introduced the band’s frontman, Luke Pritchard to the stage, and they launched into The Kooks’ huge hit song ‘Naive’. Midway through the cover, Halsey looked over to the singer almost in disbelief before shouting ‘Holy fucking shit’ into the microphone.
As they wrapped up the performance, Halsey asked the audience to show their appreciation for Pritchard making a surprise appearance, and described ‘Naive’ as “One of the best fucking songs I’ve ever heard in my life”.
@halsey and the kooks performing Naïve for night 1 of #BacktoBadlands in London #halsey @halseyhq #halseylondon #thekooks
♬ son original – lifeofaconcertboy
The collaboration comes over a decade since Halsey and The Kooks first joined forces, with the former opening for the indie band back in 2014 as part of their North American tour dates that year.
That slot came before the singer dropped the ‘Badlands’ debut album, and around the time that she released the ‘Room 93’ EP, which first introduced her to fans.
Pritchard took to social media to explain what it meant to him to be invited to join Halsey on the current ‘Back To Badlands’ tour, and said that he knew “from day one” that the singer was onto big things.
“Last night @iamhalsey brought me out on stage in my hometown,” he wrote in the caption, sharing a photo from backstage, as well as footage from the night, and an image of them backstage in 2014.
“Look at us in that photo from your first ever tour, I knew from day one you were gonna run this thing,” he continued. “What gets me most is your backstage still feels like family, your crew and our crew all good people. The band are absolutely incredible too. Your energy never changed even while everything else did.
“Beautiful night. Meant everything.”
The time on stage comes as Halsey has overcome various obstacles in recent years, including undergoing chemotherapy treatments since being diagnosed with lupus and a rare T-Cell lymphoproliferative disorder in 2022, and suffering a series of health scares in the years after.
In September 2024, the singer once again found herself hospitalised after suffering a “very scary” seizure, and, at an earlier show on the ‘Back To Badlands’ tour, hit back at an audience member who told her to “shut up and play”, saying: “I almost fucking died to be on this stage”.
Her latest album ‘The Great Impersonator’ was released in October 2024, and given a glowing five-star review from NME, as well as later named one of our best albums of 2024.
“‘The Great Impersonator’ comes from a place she describes as ‘the space between life and death,” the review read. “On the surface, it’s a tribute to the artists who made her. But on the other hand, it’s a brutal reckoning with chronic illnesses and postpartum depression, written when she wasn’t certain if she’d make it to the other side.”
The tour celebrating 10 years of ‘Badlands’ is now set to head over to Australia for the final leg, and will conclude with shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne on February 13, 17 and 19 respectively. Visit here for tickets.
As for The Kooks, yesterday (Monday February 2), the band released a new version of ‘See Me Now’, which was captured at their show at London’s O2 last year.
The touching track originally featured on their 2014 album ‘Listen’, but has found a new wave of interest in recent months after being played live on their biggest-ever UK headline tour, which was held at arenas last year.
The group also shared an exclusive statement with NME, where Pritchard said that they were working with acclaimed producer Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Sombr) for a new album, which is set to be a “psychedelic rock and roll record”.
“We’re working with Tony and he’s a really, really good producer,” he told us. “He’s very tough on us – and that’s how I like it. I feel like he’s a bit of a teacher actually. You’re never going to complete making records, there’s always more to learn.
“Every lyric is considered, it’s very good to be pushed.”
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