“I don’t do this! Oh my god, I’m new here.” Ariana Grande didn’t have the most confident of starts with her first YouTube video for R.E.M. Beauty. But for better or worse, the platform’s beauty community comes with the territory of launching a makeup line, and so the “Positions” singer persevered — with the help of makeup artist and YouTuber Gottmik — in a chatty Tuesday (March 1) video titled “Wingin’ It” to show off her new products.
“I’m really proud of this s–t,” the two-time Grammy winner said of her brand, which launched in November, after laughing and tearing up over the video’s rocky start. After getting some words of encouragement from her guest — “I’m so glad you got that off your chest,” the RuPaul’s Drag Race alum laughed — the pair proceeded to test out and talk about their favorite products from the line.
While doing each other’s makeup, Grande revealed that she began working on R.E.M. Beauty over two years ago — all the way back when she was still touring in support of her 2018 album Sweetener. “Tour was a great time to test things on stage,” she told the drag star, who was the first transgender man to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The “Positions” singer didn’t go full drag in the new video. Instead, Gottmik did Grande’s makeup with a lighter touch, saying, “We’re gonna give you like a baby, girly version of what I have going.”
The 28-year-old pop star is far from the first big name to have their face done by Gottmik, aka Kade Gottlieb. Gottlieb has worked with Kaia Gerber and Heidi Klum, and was the artist behind Lil Nas X’s iconic Nicki Minaj Halloween costume in 2020.
Watch Gottmik ease Ariana Grande into the YouTube beauty landscape in R.E.M. Beauty’s adorable new video below:
Smashing Pumpkins are hoping to bring their A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness production to the Las Vegas Sphere for a one of a kind performance centered around the legendary 1995 album.
Billy Corgan is stepping away from traditional rock venues and leaning into the world of opera with his large scale A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness tour, which transforms the band’s iconic record into a full orchestral and operatic experience.
Even though the group has not officially been invited to perform at the cutting edge venue in Las Vegas, Corgan admitted he would immediately embrace the opportunity.
Speaking with KROQ, he explained: “It’s a no-doubter for us. We just haven’t been asked yet.
“See, if the Sphere came to us and said, ‘We’d love you to do all of Mellon Collie with that production.’ Now, that makes sense to me to do something like that, to build the show around the album.
"Then you have a chance to recast the songs and the music in a different dynamic.”
The performance sees Corgan joined by acclaimed solo vocalists and complete orchestras, reshaping some of Smashing Pumpkins’ most beloved songs into expansive classical arrangements.
The project first premiered in Chicago and received overwhelming praise, with audiences and reviewers applauding the powerful reinterpretations of songs such as 1979 and Tonight, Tonight.
Corgan shared that the experience has become one of the most meaningful achievements of his artistic journey.
He said: “The success of translating Mellon Collie into operatic and classical form has been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. Where on each of the 7 sold out nights in Chicago, we’d finish within the raucous wave of a standing ovation. So to now take it on the road, and to Europe, too says this magical dream doesn’t have to end.”
The production was developed by Corgan alongside Grammy nominated conductor James Lowe, who added: "It has been so gratifying to discover how the nuances and layers of Mellon Collie reveal themselves in fresh new ways in these symphonic, choral and operatic settings. To now have the opportunity to perform this work in Europe with world class musicians in such important venues is nothing short of thrilling."
The lineup features vocalists Ed Parks, Sydney Mancasola, Zoie Reams, Dominick Valdes Chenes and Dean Murphy. The wardrobe for the production was created by House of Gilles designers Gilles Mendel and Chloé Mendel Corgan.
The upcoming run will include several September performances throughout the UK, Belgium, France and Spain, highlighted by two special evenings at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
