Ariana Grande Sings Decade-Old Hit for the First Time in Years During Tech Difficulty at NYC Show
"I love things like this, because it means we get to spend more time together," she said as her crew fixed the issue.
Ariana Grande just proved that she’ll be alright even when technical difficulties throw off her Eternal Sunshine Tour show, with the star spontaneously dusting off a decade-old hit and singing it a cappella while stalling for time on stage during her Sunday (July 19) show in Brooklyn, N.Y.
At Grande’s fifth and final performance at Barclays Center on her ongoing trek, an unexpected pause in the program took place midway through the concert, shortly after she’d sung Eternal Sunshine: Brighter Days Ahead tracks “Twilight Zone” and “Past Life.” After explaining to the crowd that her crew needed time to address an issue with the mechanics of her production, the Grammy winner asked, “Should we sing a song that’s not in the show together?”
Grande then looked to her fans to help her pick out a song, seemingly locking eyes with someone who requested “Be Alright” from her 2016 album, Dangerous Woman. “Ooh! OK,” she said excitedly before diving into the track’s opening lyrics.
During the chorus, she turned the mic over to the audience. “Yay! That was fun,” she said, cutting off the song after a few bars. “See? I love things like this, because it means we get to spend more time together. But they’ve fixed it now, so now we’ll go back to the show. Love you.”
Fittingly, the next song on the setlist just so happened to be Dangerous Woman‘s title track. Grande went through with the rest of the show without a hitch, wrapping up her stay at the NYC arena.
“new york, you have my heart always … brooklyn, i am emotional !” she wrote on Instagram shortly afterward, sharing photos from the performances. “thank you for five beautiful shows. i love you, i love new york, i love this show, i love our eternal sunshine tour family, and again, you, you, you… with all my heart always.”
The moment wasn’t the first time Grande experienced a snafu over the course of her time at Barclays. At night one on July 13, the audio from her loop machine abruptly cut off while she was singing “Eternal Sunshine,” leading the crowd to loudly sing along with her as backup. During Sunday’s show, the lights and screens on the right half of her stage flickered on and off a couple of times.
“Be Alright” marked an unexpected but welcome addition to Grande’s show, which also featured Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s such as “Thank U, Next” — during which she tweaked a lyric to seemingly confirm she’s reunited with ex-boyfriend Ricky Alvarez — “7 Rings,” “Positions” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love).” Toward the end, she performed another No. 1, “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” the lead single from her upcoming album Petal, which drops July 31.
The Wicked actress is now at the halfway point of her Eternal Sunshine trek, which kicked off June 6 in Oakland, Calif. She’s set to play a series of shows in Boston, Montreal and Chicago before closing out with 10 nights at the O2 Arena in London.
Watch Grande sing “Be Alright” below.
