There’s no denying Ariana Grande is at the peak of her career. With Thank U, Next reaching platinum status, her “Sweetener” tour winding down and gracing the August edition of Vogue , Ari is the pop princess we couldn’t love more.
Of course, she has also been through some of the most difficult and devastating times anyone could ever imagine.
Ariana has been open and vulnerable with her fans since the beginning of her career.
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Tragedy struck in May 2017 after Ariana’s concert in Manchester, England.
A bomb was detonated in the Manchester Arena after her concert, killing 23 people and injuring 139.
Ariana held a benefit concert in the weeks that followed, with guest appearances by Miley Cyrus, Mac Miller, Katy Perry, Imogen Heap and Justin Bieber.
Proceeds from the concert went to benefit the victims and the families affected by the Manchester Attack.
Ari’s boyfriend at the time Mac Miller was a huge support for her in dealing with the aftermath of the attack.
The two began dating in 2016 after being friends for years prior.
The pair ended up splitting up in May 2018 after Ari declared the relationship was toxic.
It was no secret Miller had struggled with a substance abuse problem for years.
In a response to a Twitter user, Ari debunked the notion that women should constantly be held responsible for their male partners actions.
“I am not a babysitter or a mother and no woman should feel that they need to be.”
Ariana soon began dating “Saturday Night Live” cast member Pete Davidson.
The couple was controversial to say the least but hey, they both seemed to be IN-LURVE, so who were we to stop them?
The pair announced their engagement a month after they began dating.
Pete had also recently got out of a long-term relationship with Cazzie David.
However, things came crashing down around the couple after news broke that Ariana’s ex Mac Miller had died tragically of a drug overdose in September.
About Miller, she wrote “the kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. i hope you’re okay now. rest.”
Ariana and Pete called off their engagement in October 2018, and Ari was left to focus on her music.
Her album Thank U, Next came out in February 2019.
“Thank U, Next” went on to the be first Platinum album of 2019.
I’d argue it’s the greatest album of our generation but, ya know .
When sitting down in her home city of Boca Raton, Florida— Ari opened up in an interview for the August issue of Vogue.
When discussing the creation of Thank You, Next Ari describes that time in her life as a blur: “If I’m completely honest, I don’t remember those months of my life because I was (a) so drunk and (b) so sad. I don’t really remember how it started or how it finished, or how all of a sudden there were 10 songs on the board.”
She continued, “I think that this is the first album and also the first year of my life where I’m realizing that I can no longer put off spending time with myself, just as me.
“I’ve been boo’d up my entire adult life.”
“I’ve always had someone to say goodnight to.”
“So Thank U, Next was this moment of self-realization. It was this scary moment of ‘Wow, you have to face all this stuff now. No more distractions. You have to heal all this sh*t.’ ”
Ari also opened up about her relationship with Pete Davidson.
“My friends were like, ‘Come! We’re gonna have a fun summer.’ And then I met Pete, and it was an amazing distraction.”
“It was frivolous and fun and insane and highly unrealistic, and I loved him, and I didn’t know him.”
She continued, “I’m like an infant when it comes to real life and this old soul, been-around-the-block-a-million-times artist. I still don’t trust myself with the life stuff.”
Ariana also addressed her grief about Miller, “It’s pretty all-consuming,” she revealed.
In regards to that aforementioned Twitter reply, Ari said it was unfair for anyone to judge their relationship.
“People don’t see any of the real stuff that happens, so they are loud about what they think happened, They didn’t see the years of work and fighting and trying, or the love and exhaustion.”
“That tweet came from a place of complete defeat,” she admitted.
“You have no idea how many times I warned him that that would happen and fought that fight, for how many years of our friendship, of our relationship.”
She continued, “You have no idea so you’re not allowed to pull that card, because you don’t f**king know.”
“That’s where that came from.”
“By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f**k. He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had.”
“I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming . . . less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away.”
As for the future, Ari hopes to put in more time to focus on herself and her own mental health issues.
“I can see this stronger, amazing, fearless version of myself that one day I hope to evolve into. Sometimes I try to be that for my fans before I actually am that myself.”
She concluded, “I think I’ve been avoiding putting in the work.”
And we really hope you do, Ari!
