NEWS
Ariana Grande is everywhere right now. She’s in the charts, all over social media, she’s a coach on social media. And now, she’s set to fulfil a dream, starring as Glinda in the cinematic version of the Broadway hit Wicked.
Grande was all over late-night TV on Thursday (Nov. 4), when she Zoomed in for a chat on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
On this occasion, witchy stuff wasn’t a topic of conversation. Instead, Ari looked ahead to her next venture, Adam McKay’s film Don’t Look Up (“it was cool” to be a part of it) while Fallon took us for a trip back in time to the “thank u, next” singer’s very first gig.
Thanks to Ari’s mom, we got a glimpse of the-then eight-year-old singing the national anthem at a Florida Panthers hockey game.
On seeing the clip, Grande’s response was a mix of shock and horror.
The pop superstar also walked viewers through her experience as a coach on The Voice. Those contestants she selects and mentors, they’re like her kids. “I’m their stage mother,” she said.
Grande and Fallon will team up once again for the first episode of the talk-show host's spin-off "That's My Jam," airing Monday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
Watch the interview below.
At the BTS concert in Tokyo on Friday (April 17), j-hope opened up to ARMY with heartbreaking news. His grandmother, who played a major role in raising him and had always been proud of his journey with the group, has passed away.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Tokyo Dome, the K-pop star chose to be open with fans about what he was going through. “Honestly, this might be a bit of a heavy thing to share, but I really wanted to express how I’m feeling today,” he said, translated from Korean into English. “Right after we arrived in Japan, I got the news that my maternal grandmother, the one who raised me from when I was little, had passed away.”
“I felt completely stunned and did not really know how to process it at first, but being around the members, sitting down together for meals, and focusing on rehearsals helped me more than I thought it would,” j-hope went on. “My grandmother was always incredibly proud, not just of me but of all the members. She truly believed in what we do. So I feel like if she was watching from above today, she would have loved every second of it.”
He closed by thanking the audience for making his first performance after the loss feel meaningful and full of support.
BTS are currently touring in support of their new album ARIRANG, which has just earned a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Following three opening shows in Goyang, South Korea, the group is set to perform twice at the Tokyo Dome before heading abroad for the North American leg. Before the tour wraps in March next year, they will also visit Latin America, Europe, Australia, and several other regions across Asia.
On the same day as the first Tokyo concert, j-hope’s solo interview with Rolling Stone was released. During the conversation, he spoke about stepping into a leadership presence within the group. “I think that’s my role on the team,” he shared. “It just comes naturally. It feels strange to even call it a role, but I just try to handle things as they come and support the other members in any way I can.”
Additional reporting from Billboard Korea.
