Halsey Overcomes Facial Infection, Delivers Powerful Rock in Rio Debut
Despite a facial infection, Halsey made her Rock in Rio debut, delivering a rain-soaked performance featuring heavier arrangements and a mosh pit, following her call for help from "100 witches."
Halsey powered through a facial infection to make her Rock in Rio debut on Sunday, delivering a 75-minute performance for her first-ever appearance at the festival.
On Friday, Halsey joked on social media that she needed supernatural assistance to “kick the illness,” without specifying her ailment. “I need 100 witches to get together and help me get over this illness in the next 24 hours,” she wrote, initially believing she had a bad cold. She later clarified that her condition wasn’t severe and that her first post had sounded more dramatic than intended.
> I need 100 witches to get together and help me kick this illness in the next 24 hours I am dying and brothers and sisters this is something seriousssssss — halsey (@halsey) September 10, 2026
However, Halsey subsequently sought medical attention and learned she had a facial infection, as reported by Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo.
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By Sunday, she appeared ready to go. According to Billboard Brasil , she leaned into the heavier side of her catalog, bringing guitar-driven arrangements to songs from across her career while running across the rain-soaked Palco Mundo stage.
The set included “Nightmare,” “Experiment on Me,” and a rockier rendition of “Closer,” while Halsey encouraged the crowd to open up a mosh pit and at one point climbed down from the stage to embrace fans. She closed the show with “Without Me.”
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Watch Halsey’s rendition of “Closer” at Rock in Rio below.
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_Originally reported by [Consequence](https://consequence.net/2026/09/halsey-facial-infection-rock-in-rio-2026/)._
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