ARIANA GRANDE

Ariana Grande Clarified It’s Not Her Singing Background Vocals On ‘Donda’s Title Track

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In the lengthy saga that has been the rollout for Kanye’s latest album, Donda, plenty of artists have been involved — in good ways and bad. While controversial features like Marilyn Manson and DaBaby have been the subject of much discussion, Ariana Grande fans were a little surprised to hear what sounded a lot like her vocals on the album’s title track when it finally dropped today.

But if you listen closely, you’ll hear slight differences that indicate it’s likely not Ari herself. First of all, she rarely AutoTuned and filters her voice to the point the female vocals on “Donda” have been altered — mostly because she simply doesn’t need to. It just hasn’t been her style in the past. And though there’s never been any public beef between Ari and Ye, they’ve never collaborated before or really been in the same realm, musically. Of course, they share a friend in Scooter Braun, but that’s about it.

All this to say, those vocals aren’t Ariana — and she confirmed as much on her Instagram Stories today, praising the actual featured artist, The Stalone, like the class act she is.

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“You sound beautiful @thestalone,” Ari wrote, putting the subject to bed once and for all. She’s too busy being a blissful newlywed to work on a Kanye timeline, anyway. Check out the song in question above if you haven’t heard it yet.

Every Artist and Producer Kanye West Worked With on Donda Album

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Donda is clearly a true labor of love. Continue reading…

Lizzo Displayed Her Impressive Vocal Range With A Rendtion Of Ariana Grande’s ‘No Tears Left To Cry’

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Ariana Grande recently marked the three-year anniversary of her hit album Sweetener with a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos of the LP’s recording process. But she wasn’t the only one celebrating. Lizzo busted out a rendition of Grande’s “No Tears Left To Cry” on the album’s anniversary, although she said she doesn’t quite relate to the song’s title.

On Tuesday, Lizzo hopped on an Instagram Live session to connect with her fans after kicking off her new era of music last week. She suddenly broke out into a brief cover of “No Tears Left To Cry,” showing off her impressive vocal range. Cutting the cover short, Lizzo said the song’s lyrics aren’t exactly true for her. “Actually, I do have some tears left to cry, b*tch,” she said. “Let me get on this Live and start crying again.”

Of course, the tears Lizzo is joking about refers to when she got vulnerable with fans on Live last week. The singer apparently received some hateful comments following the release of her “Rumors” video, and the trolls were getting to her. “For the most part, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. I don’t care,” she told her fans while trying to hold back tears. “I just think when I’m working this hard, my tolerance gets lower, my patience is lower, I’m more sensitive and it gets to me.”

Watch Lizzo sing Grande’s “No Tears Left To Cry” above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ariana Grande Will Be The Latest Star To Host A Concert In ‘Fortnite’

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As we continue moving into the digital age, we’re seeing stars across the world get more creative in bringing fans to them, especially in music. It used to be that the only way to check out your favorites was to go to a concert, a music festival, or maybe a meet and greet of some kind. Now we’re seeing some of these same events stretch out to a wider audience through the connectivity of online platforms, and particularly gaming.

One of the more unique ways we’ve seen this happening is in Fortnite. The battle royale may be most well known for all the dance trends it spawns, but it’s also hosted a lot of crossovers with real life stars such as Travis Scott and LeBron James.

Joining the trend of celebrities making their appearance in Fortnite will be pop star Ariana Grande. The former child actor turned pop singer, will be a part of Fortnite’s “Rift Tour” where she’ll put on virtual concerts for anyone that attends the in-game events. Of course, because this is Fortnite, there will also be quests to complete and Ariana Grande themed loot to collect throughout the Rift Tour.

Among the items that players can earn while playing Fortnite during this event is a Cuddly Cloudcruiser umbrella that players will be able to glide in with after dropping. The event begins Friday, August 6, and will take place throughout the weekend. The final showing will be on August 8, Sunday, at 6 p.m. ET.

Ensuring that fans around the world can catch the Rift Tour, the experience spans five showtimes over three days. We recommend fans arrive in Fortnite 60 minutes before showtime, and the Rift Tour Playlist should be live 30 minutes before each show. Before Ariana’s arrival, the Rift Tour kicks off with Fortnite-themed experiences — pairing popular tracks with moments based on elements from the game.

This might seem weird to some, but these events have been wildly successful in the past. During Travis Scott’s virtual concert he managed to break Fortnite’s concurrent players record with over 12 million all playing at once. Considering the extreme popularity of Ariana Grande, and that FFortnite is a free game, there’s a pretty solid chance that this concert is going to break a few records of its own.

Ariana Grande And The Weeknd Link Up For A Visually Stunning Performance Of ‘Off The Table’

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Over the past few weeks, Ariana Grande has been sharing a handful of Vevo live performance videos, like one she did with Ty Dolla Sign earlier this month. Today brings another, and this time, she has linked up with The Weeknd for their Positions collaboration “Off The Table.” The pair is joined by a band on a verdant stage, dramatically lit by blue light from a giant oval light fixture above.

Grande previously said of making the song, “I didn’t know anyone was ever going to hear it. I just kind of was sitting in my room during quarantine, towards the very beginning and I just had set up my little home situation and a friend of Matt Bennett’s, Shintaro, had sent me a little folder of beats. He’s a really brilliant producer and he sent me a pack of beats and I pulled it up and I wrote a verse and a chorus, and I sent it over to Abel and I said, ‘Is this OK?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna write the second verse.’ It was a very intimate moment and writing process between two friends.”

Watch Grande and The Weeknd perform “Off The Table” above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ariana Grande And Ty Dolla Sign Hype ‘Safety Net’ With A Live Performance Video

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Last fall, Ariana Grande released her third album in as many years with Positions. The project grew to be one of the most popular pop releases from the year and it’s an effort the singer continues to promote as she returns with a new video for “Safety Net,” her collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign. The video released for the track is a live performance in which Ariana performs on a grass-covered stage under a futuristic-looking lighting fixture.

The track joins “34+35,” “POV,” and “Positions” as the only other songs from Positions to receive the visual treatment. “Safety Net” is also a song that was included in Uproxx’s ranking of the best songs in Grande’s career as it came in at No. 45. Aside from her own work, Grande’s most recent work has come in the form of collaborations.

Prior to the new video, she teamed up with Doja Cat for “I Don’t Do Drugs” from the rapper’s third album, Planet Her. She also contributed a verse for a remix of The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears.” It’s a song that topped the Billboard singles chart for two consecutive weeks and one that they performed together at the iHeartRadio Music Awards earlier this year.

You can watch the “Safety Net” video above.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ariana Grande Will Give Away $1 Million Worth Of Therapy To Fans In Partnership With Better Help

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A number of artists have advocated for mental health awareness. Ariana Grande is among them. Back in May in an Instagram post about Mental Health Awareness Month, the singer shared her goal of “ending the stigma around mental health and normalizing asking for help.” Now she’s taking the steps to help with a brand new partnership.

Grande is teaming up with the mental health organization, Better Help, to give away $1 million in therapy. The partnership will pair people seeking therapy with a licensed therapist. Those who sign up will receive one month of free therapy with the option to renew it with a discount of 15 percent for the second month.

“Thrilled to be working with @betterhelp to give away $1,000,000 of free therapy,” Grande wrote in an Instagram post. “While acknowledging that therapy should not be for a privileged few but something everyone has access to, and acknowledging that this doesn’t fix that issue in the long run, i really wanted to do this anyway in hopes of inspiring you to dip a toe in, to feel okay asking for help, and to hopefully rid your minds of any sort of self judgement in doing so!”

She added that her hope is that the offer becomes a “helpful starting point” that allows people to “build space for this in your lives and continue.”

Doja Cat’s ‘Planet Her’ Will Feature Appearances From Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Young Thug, And More

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RCA Records

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re just a couple of weeks away from stepping into a new Doja Cat era. The multitalented artist spent the last two years promoting her sophomore album, Hot Pink, which spawned her first chart-topping single, “Say So,” and a number of other highlight tracks, such “Streets,” “Like That,” with Gucci Mane, and “Juicy.” But it’s time to close that chapter as she prepares to release her third album, Planet Her. After a few delays, Doja finally shared the tracklist and release date for the upcoming album.

Planet Her will arrive on June 25 bearing 14 songs, and it will feature guest appearances from Young Thug, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, JID, and SZA. The album is currently led by one single, “Kiss Me More” with SZA, but earlier today, Doja teased another. The song is titled “Need To Know” and in speaking about it on Twitter, Doja wrote, “Need to know isn’t even the next single is just some sh*t before the next more important single comes out for you to enjoy.”

You can view the artwork for Planet Her above and its tracklist below.

1. “Woman”
2. “Naked”
3. “Pay Day” Feat. Young Thug
4. “Get Into It (Yuh)”
5. “Need To Know”
6. “I Don’t Do Drugs” Feat. Ariana Grande
7. “Love To Dream”
8. “You Right” w/ The Weeknd
9. “Been Like This”
10. “Options” Feat. JID
11. “Ain’t Shit”
12. “Imagine”
13. “Alone”
14. “Kiss Me More” Feat. SZA

Planet Her is out 6/25 via RCA Records.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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The Weeknd Continues To Tease His New Era With A Cryptic Tweet

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After cleaning up with a whopping ten wins at the Billboard Music Awards last Sunday — you hear that, Grammys? — The Weeknd is doubling down on his promise that new era is coming. Though the R&B superstar didn’t even get to tour behind his most successful album yet, due to the blight that was COVID-19 on 2020 live events, he’s already unveiling a new concept anyway. After teasing the new era as “The Dawn” in one of his many acceptance speeches at the BBMAs, Abel hopped on Twitter this afternoon to double down on his promise.

“Ladies and gentleman, the…” he wrote, a cryptic teaser that had fans quickly filling in the blank: “Dawn is coming.”

Of course, it’s also a reference to a now-beloved SNL meme, when Daniel Craig introduced the star on the show. So do with it what you will!

Tesfaye’s After Hours era was a dark one punctuated by his constant red suit and facial injuries and bandages, a visual shtick that kept fans guessing as to how he’d show up to public events. If the “Save Your Tears” performance at the Billboard Music Awards was any indication, that visual is now down. His crips black suit with a long trench was the new look, and even if Ariana didn’t join him for the BBMAs performance, her appearance at his iHeartRadio Music Awards for their new remix was another indication that the pair might have more new music in the works. This was Ari’s first appearance after her secret at-home wedding, so it’s a big deal that she made it out on that stage.

Whether The Dawn era includes Ari or not, it’s definitely coming soon. And new music from The Weeknd is the perfect way to head back into festival season.