Ariana Grande Cries on Stage While Singing About Mac Miller in ‘Thank U, Next’

Monday proved to be a tough night for Ariana Grande, who broke down in tears several times during her Sweetener World Tour in Washington, D.C.

The tour promotes two of her previous albums, Sweetener and Thank U, Next, which were released within six months of each other.

The 25-year-old singer found herself in a couple emotional moments during the show, one of which was during “Goodnight n Go,” when Grande began crying.

While Monday was one of the first shows of Grande’s new tour, it also marked the six-year anniversary of the release of her first song with Mac Miller, “The Way.” Miller, whom Grande dated for two years until May 2018, died of an accidental overdose in September.

She can also be seen in video clips getting emotional and even unable to get out the lyrics to “Thank U, Next,” particularly struggling at the point when Miller’s name is mentioned.

Grande’s dancers on either side of her can be seen leaning in during the choreography giving her sweet hugs while she struggled, which turned out was most of the song. Although the words weren’t coming out, Grande still managed to stay on top of the choreography.

Earlier in the day on Monday, Grande paid tribute to Miller and their song together by sharing an Instagram post that simply said “six years” with a heart.

She also paid tribute to the late rapper by sharing photos of Myron, the dog they got together in 2017.

After the show, Grande acknowledged how tough the performance had been for her, apologizing to her fans on social media and thanking them for their support.

“thanks for accepting my humanness. it’s super emotional and difficult singing some of these songs. but you make me smile,” she captioned a short black and white video of her singing. “i look like [Hairspray character] penny pingleton up here. i love u and thanks. i feel your warmth up there and it helps and is greatly appreciated.”

Although fans worried about Grande after seeing her struggle onstage, just before the show started, she wrote on her Instagram Story that she was “grateful.”

“even when things come up, even when we’re sleep n run down. i am just grateful to be here. with many people i love….i have a beautiful support system, i love my job and i really am just grateful to be here [to be honest],” she wrote.

In a cryptic Instagram Story from earlier in the week, Grande appeared to be ready to move on.

“Sometimes, the reason for letting someone go is because they can’t help but hurt you during this phase of their life,” the post from Grande read. “When you love someone deeply, you learn what demons live within them and you realize they are hurting you because they are hurting somewhere within themselves. They are fighting a battle within and may not even know it, so they take it out on you and fight you.”

“Decide to let them go, but not because you’re being petty and resentful,” the passage continued. “You let them go because you really believe that the both of you can find the healing you truly need without being together and hurting each other in the process.”

The piece, penned by author Horacio Jones originally, concluded by saying that letting a person go doesn’t mean you “stop loving and caring” about them. It just means a person is choosing to be free “over the illusion of loyalty.”