Ariana Grande threw another lyrical curveball at fans on Monday night (July 13) during her Eternal Sunshine tour show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. N.Y. In what is becoming a trend, the singer slightly tweaked the lyrics to her 2018 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “Thank U, Next,” once again, this time switching it up to seemingly refer to her ex Ricky Alvarez in a more present-tense way.
More than a decade after the two broke up in 2016 after a year together, Grande, 33, seemed to suggest that perhaps they were closer than ever when she switched the original line “Wrote some songs about Ricky/ Now I listen and laugh,” to the more suggestive, “Wrote some songs about Ricky/ We always find our way back.”
During the segment where Grande sits on a couch surrounded by her dancers and reads from a notebook, the recitation of the new lyric elicited a howl of excitement from the audience during the song in which Ari runs down a list of her A-list former flames, including rappers Big Sean and Mac Miller and former SNL star Pete Davidson. At press time a spokesperson for Grande had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the lyric tweak.
People previously reported that Grande debuted another lyric edit during her June 26 birthday show in Austin — which Alvarez attended — when she sang, “Wrote some songs about Ricky/ I know he’s still got my back.” Two days before, she tried out, “Wrote song songs about Ricky/ And they still kinda slap.” The magazine also reported that Grande spent the Fourth of July weekend in Florida with Alvarez and her family. She previously dated her Wicked costar Ethan Slater, who she reportedly broke up with earlier this year after three years together.
Grande is halfway through her 41-date tour in support of her 2024 Eternal Sunshine album and she’ll be back on stage at Barclays on Tuesday night (July 14). Her eighth studio LP, Petal, is due out on July 31.
Check out Billboard‘s footage of the special shout-out below.
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