The first good news of 2024 has dropped, and it’s a new Ariana Grande album.
The pop star took to Instagram on Wednesday, December 27, to tease fans with a post captioned, “See you next year.” The first picture was a collage of Polaroids that Grande, 30, tagged with her record label, Republic Records, as well as director Christian Breslauer (who’s directed music videos for Doja Cat and SZA) and producer Ilya Salmanzadeh (who has produced previous Grande tracks including “Breathin” and “Problem”).
The post also included a video of Grande’s mother, Joan, dancing, a photo of Grande crying and a warehouse that could be a potential music video location. The final slide was a video that showed Grande huddled under a blanket and laughing about “how tired she is” as she noted that she’s also “so happy and grateful. I also feel like I weigh 3,000 tons.”
Grande then shared the post to her Instagram Stories with the caption, “The two moods of the album.”
The pop star also sent care packages to fans in red metallic envelopes that included a red R.E.M. lipstick from her beauty line, a photo of her red lips and a handwritten card reading, “See you next year.” On her Instagram Story, she reposted several photos from fans who received the package.
Next year is already looking pretty busy for Grande, who will be starring as Galinda in Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the Wicked musical, which will hit theaters in November 2024. The film’s cast includes Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba as well as Bowen Yang, Jonathan Bailey and Michelle Yeoh.
The new year also promises to be a fresh start for Grande in her personal life. Her divorce from ex-husband Dalton Gomez was finalized in October after they separated earlier this year. Grande began dating Gomez in January 2020, and they tied the knot in May 2021.
Since their split, Grande has been dating her Wicked costar Ethan Slater. While neither has publicly confirmed their relationship status, they’ve been photographed out together, and she’s seen him perform on Broadway in Spamalot.
Grande also broke up with Scooter Braun, her longtime manager, this year. Variety reported earlier this month that Grande had signed with Brandon Creed and Good World Management. She joins Demi Lovato, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan on the roster.
Grande’s most recent album, Positions, was released in October 2020. It included the singles “Positions” and “34+35.” The album, her sixth overall, earned Grande her fifth No. 1 album and a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.
