Ariana Grande’s ‘Last Hurrah’? Why Her U.K. Return Marks a Seismic Moment for a Generation of Pop Fans

Trending on Billboard A cloud of vanilla body spray, a swipe of Baby Lips balm and a high, headache-inducing ponytail: my pre-teen ritual in thrall to Ariana Grande. At the age of 12, I would witter on about my favorite pop star to anyone who would listen, constantly praising her voluble personality or the lovestruck earnestness of her 2013 debut LP, Yours Truly, which opened atop the Billboard 200. She represented a singular kind of freedom: to be secure yet vulnerable, and connected to her feelings in ways I couldn’t yet articulate, a world away from the one I inhabited growing up in the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales. If a gargantuan – and previously record-breaking – Instagram following is anything to go by, I wasn’t alone. In the eyes of millions across the world, Grande stood as a totem of irrepressible force; in the mid-2010s, she awoke a whole legion of young women to the power of fandom, and to the feeling of having an artist who speaks to them and with them. Her brand of blissful, self-reflexive sexuality was offset by a goofy Snapchat presence. A fascination with the macabre crept into her early music videos, while Grande pursued whatever sounds moved her, interpolating Diana Ross and music theatre classics in her output and collaborating as readily with rappers (Childish Gambino, Big Sean) as with big-ticket EDM stars (Zedd, Major Lazer). Ariana Grande at the 97th Oscars held at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025 in Hollywood, California. Penske Media Grande’s skyscraping vocals were frequently compared to those of legendary divas, but it was the effervescence of her airy yet sumptuous R&B-leaning pop that spoke to the fans. An arduous student (and diehard fan) of Imogen Heap’s emotionally immersive approach to production, Grande presented an artist whose devotion to her craft was reflected in both her music and the way she carried herself. It’s those same qualities that have allowed Grande’s connection with her fans to endure across the years. The 33-year-old is currently preparing to return to London for the final leg of the Eternal Sunshine Tour, which will see her take over the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena for a 10-night residency (Aug. 15 – Sept. 1). Billed by Grande as “a last hurrah – for now” the run will mark the singer’s first U.K. shows in seven years — and for many fans who grew up with her music, will be the first time they have seen her live on these shores. Grande’s last U.K. performances came in 2019 on the Sweetener tour, itself a poignant return after the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing at one of her Dangerous Woman shows – which killed 22 people and injured over 100 – reshaped both her career and relationship with performing at the age of 23. In the seven years since she last played here, she’s weathered intense public scrutiny in the midst of her divorce from real estate broker Dalton Gomez, released two albums, and made the leap into Hollywood stardom with the Wicked franchise. Having lived several different lives since British audiences last saw her onstage, Grande has spawned enough online commentary about her work and personal relationships to keep gossip columnists busy for an eon. Yet few contemporary pop stars cultivate lore quite so enthusiastically, scattering Easter eggs across albums for fans to decode. That habit seems set to continue with Petal (due July 31), which Grande said in an Instagram clip is about “breaking up with all different kinds of negative attachments” and is expected to be performed in part for the first time during the London run. “It’s a little feral,” she added. “This kind of just feels like, ‘F–k it.'” New material aside, her London return is something of a personal homecoming, too. Grande lived in the capital throughout the filming of both Wicked films, drawing on the city’s anonymity as she explored themes of inner conflict and closure across 2024’s Eternal Sunshine and its subsequent deluxe edition. In 2018, she performed a one-off show at Camden’s 1,500-capacity KOKO venue in one of her first public appearances since the One Love Manchester benefit concert a summer prior; the following year, her return to London was captured in the Netflix special Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You. More recently, the 10 year anniversary re-release of Yours Truly featured ‘Live From London’ versions of multiple tracks. The Eternal Sunshine Tour’s North American run, which kicked off in Oakland in June and wraps up in Chicago next week (Aug. 3), was described by Billboard’s Kyle Denis as a “celebration of real-time healing” in a glowing review, praising its narrative throughline of resilience. As Denis puts it, the fact that this show exists is a minor miracle, and is one that means something to so many people: not only its star, who has publicly survived trauma time and time again and emerged with her most fully-realised live show to date, but to the audiences who finally have the opportunity to connect to an artist who has made vulnerability her greatest strength. The siren-like blare of the beginning of “Yes And?,” the sheer cinema of watching the singer elevate towards the arena roof during the final chorus of “Supernatural,” the intricacy of Eternal Sunshine’s title track, which Grande loops live, all activate the type of emotional charge that when it lights up, it burns. Posting to Instagram stories after attending the tour in Brooklyn, Clairo told fans that she cried watching Grande perform, calling her “the blueprint.” Among critics, the consensus has been that this tour marks Grande’s return to herself as a live performer. Social media footage from the Sweetener World Tour – which took place less than two years after the Manchester attack, and six months following the passing of her ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, alongside her the call-off of her engagement to Pete Davidson – shows Grande repeatedly crying on stage, or her legs swinging as she tried to steady her emotions while performing under deliberately dim lighting, with minimal crowd interaction. The Eternal Sunshine Tour, however, has been framed as a reclamation of that space. So far, Grande has appeared more playful on stage, delivering a cappella renditions of surprise songs from earlier eras (“34+35” in 2026?!) and incorporating smart, subtle callbacks to her Wicked character, Glinda the Good, into her choreography. Perhaps most tellingly, the live lyric revisions to the “Ricky” line in 2018 megahit “thank u, next” have taken on a new resonance as Grande and her former back-up dancer Ricky Alvarez – whom she previously dated for a year after 2015’s Honeymoon Tour – have reportedly found their “way back” to each other. When I think about what I love about Grande’s music, it isn’t escapism; it’s a sense of triumph – harnessing the power of kindness to prevail against the odds. A series of tragedies has only bolstered her freedom to channel any hurt into gutsy, untempered songwriting, or to buck expectations of the wider industry. When other Grande fans discuss their love for their idol, they might talk about how both positivity and generosity are essential parts of her brand; how her discography reflects the stages of their own lives. We are bound together by a shared romanticism, a belief in dreaming bigger. I know so clearly why it matters, then, this opportunity to feel every individual emotion that Grande’s return to London brings with it. I was there, watching giddily through my phone, when Grande told her Instagram followers that her “heart was going to explode” if she didn’t release “thank u, next” before midnight on a random Saturday evening in November. I sobbed through her rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” during the live broadcast of the Manchester One Love benefit show, bowled over by the gravity of the moment. I felt inspired by how in interviews and on stage, Grande shared her creative space with other women and the LGBTQ+ community whom she wished to “emulate.” I sometimes marvel at how lucky I was to have had this pop role model: a woman fearless enough to speak her truths, so her fans could reckon with their own. While Grande’s touring future remains unclear, there is something profoundly special about being able to celebrate the memories that brought us here. In two weeks’ time, you’ll find me at The O2 singing along, dancing into oblivion, crying and laughing with everyone else who has been waiting, so very patiently, for this moment to arrive.