Ariana Grande Says ‘Thank U, Next’ Was a 'Remedy' During ‘Dark Times’

Ariana Grande owes a lot to her hit album, Thank U, Next.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the singer and actress revealed that the project helped her during a particularly tough time. She dropped Thank U, Next in February 2019, six months after her album Sweetener arrived in August 2018.

Of Thank U, Next, Grande host Scott Feinberg, “I think I needed it,” per Billboard.

“I was doing so much therapy, and I was dealing with PTSD and all different kinds of grief and depression and anxiety,” she explained. “I was, of course, treating it very seriously, but having music be a part of that remedy was absolutely contributing to saving my life. They were dark times, and the music brought so much levity.”

Ariana’s ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, tragically died in September 2018, just a few weeks after Sweetener’s arrival. At that point, she had already been struggling with PTSD from the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, which resulted in the deaths of 22 people. Then, in October 2018, Grande and her ex-fiancé, Pete Davidson, also called it quits.

“[Thank U, Next] poured out with urgency, and it was made with urgency,” she told Feinberg. “It was a means of survival. The label understood that, but they were also very hesitant to stop Sweetener dead in its tracks and move onto an album so quickly … I just said, ‘I don’t really care about the formula. I don’t want to play by the rules at this moment, because this is what I need for my soul.’ It felt really healing and freeing.”

Thank U, Next was a success, sitting for two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and its title track sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven weeks. Grande performed both Thank U, Next and Sweetener during her Sweetener World Tour in 2019.