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Ariana Grande is revealing why her name in the Wicked end credits appears as Ariana Grande-Butera — and the reason may make you teary-eyed.
The movie musical directed by Jon M. Chu, began screening for press and critics last month, with viewers already sharing their rave reviews and first reactions on social media. Another detail fans imemediately noticed was that Ariana is billed “Ariana Grande-Butera” in the film’s end credits.
For those who don’t know, that’s Ariana’s birth name — which she has never used professionally (Ariana was born to Joan Grande and Edward Butera), until now. That being said, the “One Last Time” singer was asked about the credit during an interview for “The Streaming Service” podcast.
“I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways, through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba,” she explained. “And, you know, that was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old. And it felt like a really lovely way of honoring that. It felt really full circle, and it just felt like something I wanted to do.”
Ariana’s choice to use both her mother’s and father’s last names for the film holds special significance, as she and her father have experienced a strained relationship over the years, including periods of estrangement following her parents’ divorce. However, they have since reconciled, with Edward joining Ariana and her mother, Joan, on the red carpet at the 2020 Grammys.
The Florida native has previously opened up about her relationship to her father, years prior to their recent reconciliation.
During a 2014 interview with Seventeen Magazine, Ariana explained that their falling out was one of the “toughest things” she’d ever had to deal with.
“Falling out of touch with my dad. It’s private, but it happened last year,” she revealed. “It took me so long to be okay with it. The thing that got me there was embracing the fact that I am made up of half my dad, and a lot of my traits come from him.”
“So much of me comes from my father, and for so long, I didn’t like that about myself,” she added. “I had to accept that it’s okay not to get along with somebody and still love them.”
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English (US) ·