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Culture November 8, 2024

Ariana Grande Announces She’s Pulling the Brakes on New Music

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Ariana Grande is getting candid about her journey as a musician so far and her future steps, which might look different from what her fans expect.

ariana grande

Photo: Getty

Ahead of the release of Wicked, Grande appeared in a new episode of the Las Culturistas podcast with her costar Bowen Yang and cohost Matt Rogers and opened up about one of her most vulnerable moments as a popstar, which dates back to the release of her 2020 album positions.

When Rogers shared how much that album meant to him, Grande took the opportunity to reveal she actually struggled with “the life cycle” of the album, so much so that it made her question her creative decisions at the time.

“When [positions] came out, it… didn’t go so well,” Grande admitted, not referring to the album’s actual charting data but fan reactions, which she implied she values more. “I feel like in the beginning of the positions of it all, I just got a little bit of, ‘This is not what we want’ vibes [from my fans], I think,” Grande continued.

She went on to say that she admits mixed reactions come with the territory of being such a popular artist. “You put art out there so people can tear it apart and do whatever they want with it, or celebrate it, or whatever,” she said, but added that she’s “such a sensitive artist,” which she said is partly because of her Cancer moon.

“I know it comes with being an artist, but … I just remember that really put me in a cage of judging every single piece,” she continued, admitting she actually scrapped many of the accompanying projects she was going to put out as part of the album cycle. (One of said scrapped projects was the music video for POV, which has actually leaked online since.)

Grande revealed she was then taken aback when the perception of the album changed, and people started loving it. “Now [people think] it’s the best thing I’ll ever make, and I’m like, ‘What is that?’ I’m like, ‘How is that fair?’ But I love them for it, and it’s OK, and it’s fine. It’s not mine anymore, and that’s the thing that I also have to say because I am aware it’s a part of it. And I’m grateful for the voices and for the passion. I really am, but I’m also a person.”

Grande followed up 2020’s positions with this year’s eternal sunshine, one of her most vulnerable offerings to date and potentially her last in a while. In the interview, Grande also got candid about her future as a popstar and revealed she’s actually going to pull the brakes on music a little to focus on Broadway and more musical theater, which she described as her “heart.”

“I’m gonna say something so scary — it’s gonna scare my fans and everyone — but I love them, and they’ll deal, and we’ll be here forever,” Grande said. “I’m always going to make music, I’m always going to go on stage, I’m always going to do pop stuff, I pinky promise. But I don’t think doing it at the rate I’ve been doing it for the past 10 years. [That] is where I see the next 10 years.”

“I love acting, I love musical theater,” Grande continued. “Reconnecting with this part of myself, who started in musical theater and who loves comedy … heals me. Finding roles to use these parts of myself and put them in little homes and characters and bits and voices and songs really does [heal me] in a different way than songwriting and writing about my own pain because it’s just kind of like constantly reliving that one thing that you wrote the song about.”

Grande continued saying that “whatever makes sense, or whatever roles we see fit, or where I could really do a good job or honor the material, I would really love to.” She added that she thinks this avenue would be “a lot better” for her.

Grande started her musical theater career in 2008 when she was cast in the musical 13. In 2012, she got her second gig starring as Snow White in a production of A Snow White Christmas at the Pasadena Playhouse. The world will next see her as Glinda/Galinda in the movie adaptations of Broadway’s beloved musical Wicked, with part one hitting cinemas worldwide on November 22, 2024, kicking off Grande’s musical theater revival arc.

Originally published in Teenvogue.com

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