Ariana Grande will never forget.
The God Is A Woman singer is celebrating her first album, 2013’s Yours Truly, with a re-issue she’s calling the Deluxe Edition, and it’s giving her an opportunity to highlight one of the most important collaborations of her life.
Related: Ariana & Ethan Slater’s Relationship ‘Still Progressing’ Despite The Drama?
Posting on her Instagram about the new version, which includes live versions of Baby I, Daydreamin, Honeymoon Avenue, Right There, and Tattooed Heart, she wrote:
“Happy ten year anniversary to a project that changed my life. thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening and for growing with me every step of the way.”
But one person in particular she’s saying “thank you” to? The late, great Mac Miller.
Ari dropped the updated version of their breakout collab The Way on Friday, and not only did she put love and care into the treatment of the track, there’s also a little extra at the end of the YouTube video.
If you get all the way to the end of the visual, everything else fades out, and all that’s left is a black screen with the words:
“Feat. Mac Miller”
So sweet…
Not only did Ariana collab with Mac Miller, the pair dated from 2016 to 2018. Just months after their breakup, Mac, real name Malcolm McCormick, passed away from a drug overdose in September 2018. He was only 26 years old.
His death devastated Ariana. In 2019 she finally opened up about how she was struggling through the “all-consuming” grief she felt about the tragedy, telling Vogue:
“I see myself onstage as this perfectly polished, great-at-my-job entertainer, and then in situations like this, I’m just this little basket-case puddle of figuring it out.”
Speaking on what she saw of his “demons” in their relationship, she said:
“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.”
She added that she was still trying to figure it all out, “walking this fine line between healing myself and not letting the things that I’ve gone through be picked at before I’m ready.” Such a heartbreaking feeling that must have been.
We’re so glad that years on she’s had the time to heal — but not by pretending he didn’t exist.
What do YOU think of Ariana’s tribute to Mac??
[Image via BBC One/WENN.]
