Ariana Grande is thankful for her Thank U, Next era. During a Feb. 3 episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Grande shared how releasing her fifth studio album in 2019 was a “means of survival” and helpful in “saving [her] life.”
“I think I needed to be doing that. I was doing so much therapy, and I was dealing with PTSD and all different kinds of grief and depression and anxiety,” Grande explained in the interview. “And, I was, of course, treating it very seriously, but having music be a part of that remedy was absolutely contributing to saving my life.”
In the album, Grande included mentions of her ex Mac Miller, who passed away in 2018. “They were dark times, and the music brought so much levity and so did the experience. But it poured out with urgency, and it was made with urgency, and it was a means of survival and the label understood that,” she added.
However, there was some reluctance from her label to release another album so quickly after the success of Sweetener, which she released a year earlier in 2018. “They were also very hesitant to stop Sweetener dead in its tracks and move on to another album so quickly. Because at the time, that wasn’t really something people did,” she continued. “It wasn’t common unless it was rap music or hip hop. It wasn’t really a commonly done thing.”
But Grande knew that releasing the album was what she needed. “And I just said, ‘I don’t really care about the formula. I don’t really want to play by the rules at this moment because this is what I need from my soul.’ And it felt really healing and freeing,” she added.
The music has also become a point of connection with fans who were also going through difficult times — something Grande acknowledged. “It was such a beautiful moment of connection… that’s been one of the most beautiful pieces of the puzzle has just been connecting with people over feelings, and it’s beautiful,” she said on the podcast.
“Like meeting waiters at a restaurant who will tell me that they felt like they had a big sister in me because they didn’t have a sister growing up,” Grande recalled. “And they’re gay, and they have felt like I was their sister and they could come out because I was there and I made a silly song. It’s just like, ‘Oh, whoa.’”
She added, “I carry that with me. It’s just so interesting because I could say the absolute same about my fans … they have kind of been such a safe space for me and a meaningful connection over the course of my life and career and everything.”
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