Originally appeared on E! Online
Ariana Grande is saying yes, and? to criticism about her voice.
The "thank u, next" singer recently surprised fans when she appeared to shift between two different registers accents during a June 12 appearance on Penn Badgley's Podcrushed podcast. And now she's explaining exactly why that happens—with a lot of it stemming from the time she spent playing Glinda in the upcoming Wicked films.
"habit," Grande wrote June 18 in the TikTok comments of a video calling out the change. "(speaking like this for two years) and also vocal health."
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She added, "I intentionally change my vocal placement (high /low) often depending on how much singing i'm doing. i've always done this BYE."
In the original clip, the 30-year-old could be heard speaking in a deeper voice before shifting to a higher, softer octave while discussing her music.
And while some jokingly noted they could relate to the change, including a user who wrote, "Me when I have to use my customer service voice," many fans quickly came to Grande's defense.
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"Yall acting like y'all's voices don't change in certain spaces and settings," a fan noted, "her interview voice is no different, especially cause singers use to to preserve their vocals. don't bring no dumb s--t over here."
Another even assumed the change had to do with Wicked, saying, "Bet you she does this voice change to help ease into the operatic resonance she needs to use for when she sings Glinda s--t."
And Grande herself has even touched on the changes she had to make to play the character, explaining that she worked with an acting coach and a voice coach every day to assist in her transition to Glinda.
"Everything about me, I had to deconstruct to prove to them I could handle taking on this other person," Grande explained during a Feb. 26 appearance on The Zach Sang Show. "I had to completely erase popstar Ari, the person they know so well, because it's even harder to believe someone as someone else when you're so branded as one thing."
She added, "I had to go all the way to strip that down, come into my callback with no makeup, my hair down, I looked like I was 11 years old."
