She first became known as one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Chloe Bailey. As an actress, Bailey starred in the television sitcom Grown-ish β In , she had her first lead role as Ariel in Disney 's musical fantasy film The Little Mermaid and had a supporting role in the musical film The Color Purple.
Halle Lynn Bailey was born on March 27, , and raised in Mableton, Georgia , with her older sisters Ski Bailey born and Chloe Bailey born , and her younger brother Branson Bailey born , later moving together to Los Angeles in mid While in Georgia, Bailey played minor acting roles in films such as Joyful Noise , having begun a career in acting at the age of 3, and the Disney television film Let It Shine Halle played Skylar "Sky" Forster in a recurring capacity in the first season before being upgraded to series regular starting with the second.
The album was paired with a visual. On May 31, , it was announced that they would be the opening act for the U. On June 12, , the duo released their sophomore album, Ungodly Hour , to critical acclaim. In July , Disney announced that Bailey had been cast as Ariel , the titular mermaid, in The Little Mermaid , a live-action remake of the animated film of the same name.
Following the announcement, her casting caused a backlash, with some claiming that casting an African-American in the role of Ariel was unfaithful to the original character. Explaining how "Bailey was able to embody everything else that he was looking for with Ariel The Little Mermaid was released in May In , Bailey starred in the musical period drama film The Color Purple , based on stage musical of the same name.
Bailey played the role of young Nettie and performed four songs on the soundtrack , including the promotional single " Keep It Movin' '", which won the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Original Song and was shortlisted for Best Original Song at the 96th Academy Awards.
