Ariana Grande has never been shy to wear her heart on her sleeve, always addressing any personal issues that may be made public long before anyone else gets the chance to air her dirty laundry. One of the places that she has chosen to do that is in her lyrics, which also make special mention of her relationship with her father.
Ariana Grande has a good relationship with her father, though it is something that only happened later in her life. Their bond used to be quite badly strained, thanks to her father leaving when she was a child.
Once upon a time, the parental figure you’d most commonly have seen Grande attending events and socializing with was her mother, Joan. More recently, however, Grande has also managed to mend the broken bridges between her and her father, Edward.
What led to the two being able to put their past behind them?
The Drama
In Grande’s ode to the exes in her life, the song “Thank U, Next” from the album of the same name, we see Grande meticulously comb through her most important partners, giving each of them a special mention.
The lucky candidates for inclusion were Big Sean, of whom she says “he wasn’t a match”, Ricky Alvarez, the nearly-married Pete Davidson, and the late Mac Miller. One other man-made the list of subjects that were the target of the song’s lyrics, however.
That odd man out in the song’s lyrics was Ariana Grande’s father, Edward. She comments on her relationship with him during the song, albeit in a roundabout fashion, specifically thanking him for the fact that “the drama” between him and the family helped her mother to grow.
On the surface, it seems like a damning refusal of Edward’s position in her life as her father, a miserable situation for all involved. It looked for a while like this forever to be the case, too, as we never saw Grande interacting with her father in any way whatsoever.
The lack of interaction with her father was in stark contrast to the way she behaved with her mother, with whom she has always shared a close bond. The mother-daughter combo could often be seen sharing the limelight together at red carpet events, award ceremonies, and more.
What Started It All
To a lot of young children, their parents are the cornerstones of their lives, the rocks that offer stability during whatever storms the rough seas of adolescence throws their way. Losing those figures in your life, no matter how it happens, is an understandably life-defining moment that sticks with you for an inestimable amount of time.
That kind of impact that the sudden or unexpected absence of a parent can have explains why Grande has candidly referred to her dad leaving as being one of the toughest things that she has ever had to deal with.
In an interview with Seventeen Magazine, a far younger Grande dropped the incredibly personal piece of information, opening up about her difficulties in dealing with her father leaving, and how it took her a long time for her to learn to forgive him despite still loving him.
Mending The Bridge
Thankfully for all parties involved, it looks like “the drama” that Grande once mentioned is fully behind all of them. In an effort to both figuratively and literally mend the bridge, Grande actually changed the bridge in “Thank U, Next” to better reflect the current state of the relationship between her and her father.
At the Grammys, instead of the usual lyric of “Thank U, Next” referencing the drama, Grande instead injected a new line that almost brought her to tears. Gone was the drama, replaced with “I’ll be thanking my dad,” followed by, “’Cause he’s really awesome.”
Since then, we’ve occasionally seen that the usual mother-daughter duo has been replaced by a happy family trio. On top of their participation in events together, Grande’s social media has also seen the mended relationship featured front and center on a few posts.
Even though the toughest of times, Grande has still clearly always had a special place in her heart for her father, always remembering to celebrate Father’s Day, but just never being hesitant about being honest regarding the difficulties they faced.