“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:
10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced that he is leaving the band because the demands of touring have become too much for him.
The 75-year-old musician, who also spent time performing with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works, has chosen to walk away from the legendary rock group after more than five decades.
He shared: “After so many wonderful years with 10cc, I must admit that the rigours of touring are no longer manageable for me as I get older, and I feel it’s time to let go of the long hours in airports and endless travel on buses.
“I’m not planning to stop playing altogether. I will still perform but at a pace that feels right, working alongside old friends and a new group of fellow musicians called The Guilty Men.”
Frontman Graham Gouldman confessed that it will feel unusual to perform without his “longest-running musical associate.”
He explained: “When Paul and I first joined forces in 10cc, we never could have imagined that we’d still be at it after 30 years, let alone 52.
“Paul has been my longest musical partner and it will feel different to turn around and see another drummer, but I completely understand why he no longer wants to sit on a plane for 14 hours or wake up in a new hotel every day for weeks at a time.”
Ben Stone, who has previously played with Mike and The Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler, will be taking over on drums.
Paul, who had several runs with 10cc after joining in 1973, performed his final show with the I’m Not In Love band in Alexandria, Virginia this past September.
The group is set to continue their And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour in the UK next year.
