"I feel just proud": Ariana Grande on how hard it was to re-embrace her old music

Aug 09, 2024

Washington [US], August 9 : Ariana Grande appears to have not always embraced her discography, as she revealed, in a recent interview, how her life was when she became a pop sensation at a young age, reported People.
During the recent episode of Hot Ones, the pop artist, 31, highlighted the issue of enjoying her old hits. Host Sean Evans asked whether there are any songs she wouldn't mind retiring if listeners didn't want to hear them as often.
"Of course, that's like a natural thing that all artists can probably relate to," Grande explained. "But seeing fans' reaction to it also kind of replaces that... There was a time when it was hard for me to feel that same gratitude that I do now for certain songs and the music because I think some of it was a stressful time."
The two-time Grammy winner went on to say that being a pop celebrity at the age of 19/20 was an "insane" experience, and what she went through during that transition most likely led to her previously apathetic emotions towards her early songs.
"That experience was sort of married to some of the songs a little bit," she shared, "or some of the songs that are more emotional that the experience that inspired them can be married to the music, for me, for a second."
However, Grande revealed that "with time and therapy," she's been able to "re-embrace" the nostalgia of her discography. "I feel just proud and grateful and happy when I hear them. I'm like, 'That's a good song,'" the "yes, and?" singer said, jokingly adding, "Whereas, I used to, maybe, hear it and cry, so that's a beautiful thing."
Grande addressed other facets of her music during her Hot Ones episode, too, like how she feels about "frustrating" music leaks as an artist.
"It's really hard for me because it's disheartening and disappointing, and it sucks, and I am constantly trying to get to the bottom of how people get stuff," she shared. "Whether it's videos or pictures or audio, songs... so it's conflicting because that is very frustrating and feels very dehumanizing."
"And then the other side [of me] is like, but I'm so grateful to be an artist that people care about," the performer continued. "And my fans want more of me, so they're going to these extremes to steal and break in."
"It's so lovely to be loved," she joked. "But yeah, I sit somewhere in between being grateful to be here at all and being like, 'But really? Come on.'"
Grande has recently been focussing on her Wicked press tour as she prepares for part one of the film adaption, which stars Cynthia Erivo and will be released in cinemas on November 22. The singer applauded her leading co-star's performance of "Defying Gravity" in the movie on Hot Ones, calling it "the most phenomenal thing I've ever seen in my life."
Grande is currently in the middle of her Eternal Sunshine era, having dropped the studio album on March 8. Fans have been anticipating a new tour to promote the album, which the Thank U, Next singer has hinted at in recent interviews.
During the July 9 episode of the Shut Up Evan podcast, Grande said of hitting the road again, "I still want it, too. I think it would be a really lovely idea to be able to trickle in some shows in between the two Wicked films. I think there's a version of that that exists," reported People.