Ariana Grande has opened up about her relationship with music and why she fallen in love with making music again.
Grande, who in the past years has shifted her focus from her music career to acting, spoke to The New York Times for a feature published on Wednesday (November 5). Speaking to the publication, the ‘Thank U, Next’ singer spoke of the multiple projects she’s juggling.
Apart from promoting the upcoming Wicked sequel, Wicked: For Good, the multi-hyphenate has a number of other acting roles lined up, as well as a world tour in 2026. The tour seems to be the most daunting of her upcoming plans, as she hasn’t played many live shows since her 100-show ‘Sweetener’ tour in 2019 came to an end.
Part of her aversion to touring – besides the gruelling task on being on the road constantly – comes from her relationship to music, which she said had taken a dip over the years. When asked by NYT what else she think needed mending in her pop career, Ariana Grande chuckled: “How much more time do we have?”
“There was something broken about my relationship to pop music that was healed recently through the time away. I think it got away from me in a way I didn’t expect,” Grande said, referencing being thrust into the spotlight and being dissected by the public and media for every choice – be it dating or her body image. “There’s a thing that comes along with your dreams coming true that feels dangerous at times.”
“Nothing prepares you for what comes with it. Until quite recently, it was really hard for me to navigate and I think it stripped a lot of joy out of this for me. And by the way, I have a different team now,” she said, hinting at her 2023 split from longtime manager Scooter Braun and now being able to balance her music and acting career without the pressure of the pop industry machine behind her. “Said with love, but that was a piece.”
She went on to explain that she grew up as a theater kid, and always found that acting – whether on stage or in front of a camera – provided her a different kind of comfort compared to music.
“I’ve never felt this connected to my art or inspired, and that’s just been such a tremendous gift,” she concluded on the matter. “It’s like I don’t actually have to take on those things that were projected onto me. I can focus on my art and that can be a separate entity. But I had to give myself the permission to think that.”
Grande’s long-awaited ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour kicks off in June 2026 for a US run that extends until August. Afterward, she’ll play a whopping 10 shows at The O2 in London between August and September – you can find any remaining tickets here.
She has rarely played live since she completed her huge 2019 tour, only making a handful of appearances at non-profit events and award shows. She did reassure fans, however, saying that she wasn’t “abandoning” music and was looking into a number of live shows for 2026.
In a four-star review of 2024’s ‘Eternal Sunshine’, Nick Levine wrote for NME: “It’s the most sophisticated project yet from a preternaturally talented vocalist who keeps getting better. Whatever you take away from it, ‘Eternal Sunshine’ definitely isn’t an album you’ll want to wipe from memory.”