Girl Boss Energy

Ashley Puryear • September 11, 2021

Ariana Grande’s first R.E.M. Beauty products, revealed

Ariana Grande original interview

“Can I ask one really important question?” Ariana Grande says. Her voice lilts up and down with every word, like it’s navigating the Amalfi Coast, which is simply how someone with a four-octave singing voice speaks. This is a question she asks everybody she can, and she’s observed that people tend to begin answering before she’s even finished asking, which is proof of the question’s excellence.

Her voice could be a wonder of the natural world, if it wasn’t clearly evidence of the sublime. It is almost shocking to reconcile her physical form — barely over five feet tall, teetering on platform heels — with the sound she produces from her vocal chords. In 2015, she performed for the Obamas at the White House, and when she began riffing along with the opening chords of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” people in the audience literally gasped. And this was before the first lyrics were sung! When it ended, Patti LaBelle gave her a standing ovation.