{"id":588437,"date":"2026-09-03T00:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T00:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/588437\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T00:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T00:44:11","slug":"ariana-grande-bids-fans-tearful-farewell-before-stepping-back-from-public-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/588437\/","title":{"rendered":"Ariana Grande bids fans tearful farewell before stepping back from public life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ariana Grande has bid an emotional farewell to her fans as she steps away from the limelight.<\/p>\n

The US singer and \u201cWicked\u201d star told a packed performance of the last night of her \u201cEternal Sunshine\u201d tour in London that she would \u201ccherish this experience always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking through tears on stage at London\u2019s O2 Arena on Tuesday night, Grande expressed her heartfelt gratitude to her legions of fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to say thank you so much,\u201d Grande said, to a huge wave of applause and cheering. \u201cThank you for 10 beautiful London shows and for 41 incredible Eternal Sunshine tour shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED STORY | Ariana Grande withdraws from London musical, will take a break from the public<\/a><\/p>\n

She said that performing for this tour \u2014 which kicked off in Oakland, California, in June \u2014 had been \u201cone of the most beautiful and extraordinary experiences of my life\u201d and that she would \u201ccherish this experience always.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the best fans in the entire world and I always have,\u201d she said, adding: \u201cI love your outfits. I love your faces. I love seeing you and I love connecting with you in this way. Thank you for all your effort that you put into making this so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

News emerged last month that the star would be taking a \u201cstep back from visibility\u201d following the end of her tour.<\/p>\n

A representative for the 33-year-old star told People magazine in an August 2 interview that Grande would end the tour on a \u201chigh note\u201d before taking a \u201cmuch-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same interview, it emerged that Grande had pulled out of starring in a London revival of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cSunday in the Park with George,\u201d which would have seen her starring opposite her \u201cWicked\u201d co-star Jonathan Bailey. He subsequently also withdrew from the production, which had been scheduled for next summer.<\/p>\n

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Grande has long been subjected to intense scrutiny over her appearance. Most recently, the video of her latest single \u2014 \u201cPetal\u201d \u2014 led to a chorus of alarm about how underweight she appeared.<\/p>\n

However, a day after the news broke of her withdrawal from public life, Grande said her decision \u201cwas not a reactive or impulsive thing,\u201d and that it was a decision she had planned \u201ca long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me but I just have to say, that could not be more the\u2026 opposite,\u201d the singer said during a performance in Chicago. \u201cBoundaries do need to be set, human beings can need a break sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The-CNN-Wire\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ariana Grande has bid an emotional farewell to her fans as she steps away from the limelight. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-588437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}