Ariana Grande made a surprise change to her breakup smash, “Thank U, Next,” while singing a medley of her hits at the 2020 Grammy Awards Sunday night.
Big Sean is still not a match, past songs about Ricky Alvarez still make her laugh, Pete Davidson is definitely not her husband, and Mac Miller is indeed still an angel.
It was the line about her once-estranged father that Grande amended for the performance.
The original line is: “One day I’ll walk down the aisle / Holding hands with my mama / I’ll be thanking my dad / ‘Cause she grew from the drama.” She changed the last bit to: “‘Cause he’s really awesome.”
Ariana and her dad, Edward Butera, were estranged for several years after her parents divorced.
The “Victorious” alum told Seventeen Magazine in 2014 their falling out was one of the “toughest things” she had ever had to deal with. “It’s private, but it happened last year.”
But little by little, Grande and Butera were able to mend fences. She told the publication it took her a long time to be okay with whatever caused the rift.
“The thing that got me there was embracing the fact that that I am made up of half my dad, and a lot of my traits come from him,” she said. “So much of me comes from my father, and for so long, I didn’t like that about myself. I had to accept that it’s okay not to get along with somebody and still love them.”
Over the years, Edward found his way to Ariana’s social media pages. She wished him a Happy Father’s Day in 2017, and in the fall of 2019, he joined her for the European leg of her “Sweetener” tour, as captured via her Instagram Story.
“Jet setter dad. His first time in Europe,” she wrote at the time. “Tried to show him as many things as possible in such a short about of time. So happy and grateful for this trip I can’t fully express. My heart is screaming.”
Thanksgiving 2019 marked the first time in nearly two decades Grande celebrated a holiday with both her parents. Posting black-and-white snaps of the day — which included dancing and face-painting — the singer captioned a family photo, “First Thanksgiving with both of my parents in 18 years!”
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