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Double 2019 Grammy-nominee Ariana Grande has allegedly (and spectacularly) pulled out of Sunday night’s event after an eleventh hour dispute with the event’s producers. A source close to the singer has told CNN the 25-year-old will not perform at – or attend – the show after the organisers seemingly wanted to cherry-pick Grande’s set list.
“The producers were dictating what songs she could sing,” said the source. The report alleges the show producers refused to allow Grande to sing her record-breaking current hit 7 Rings, except in a medley of their choosing.
In spite of her nominations for both Best Pop Vocal Performance for God Is A Woman and Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener, Grande allegedly took no prisoners and cancelled the performance. According to Forbes, Grande’s title track Thank U, Next broke the single-day streaming record for a female artists on the Spotify streaming service. Her highly-anticipated next album, Thank U, Next, is scheduled to drop in just two days-time, making this a major last-minute issue for the Recording Academy. The new offering is believed to be her most personal to date with track listings including NASA, bloodline and break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored.
It’s not the first time the Grammy’s have experienced this issue. Last year, a feud reportedly erupted between Lorde (who was nominated for the prestigious Album Of The Year) and the producers. Lorde was denied the option to sing a track from her album Melodrama and was instead offered a spot to perform in the show’s Tom Petty tribute.
It’s the latest drama to unfold for Grande who has experienced a lot in a very short amount of time. In May 2017, 22 people were killed at the hands of a suicide bomber outside her concert in Manchester. Sixteen months later, her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller tragically passed away from an accidental overdose and a month later the singer ended her engagement to comedian Pete Davidson. Months later, the latter threatened suicide via his Instagram and Twitter accounts sending Grande into a spin as she rushed to his side.
Grande’s decision to pull the pin at the last minute doesn’t come as a surprise – to me, anyway. Upon visiting Australia in 2014, the then-21-year-old refused to be filmed or shot from her left side. I was working for another publication at the time and in order to secure the interview, Grande requested a monitor – of a specific size and pixels – be situated behind my head (out of frame) so she could check her reflection during the interview. She also reportedly cancelled a photo-shoot mid-shoot because she wasn’t happy with a photo that was taken.
Grande has yet to address the Grammy’s news. The Recording Academy is yet to comment.
More to come.
