Nobody made a more regal appearance at the Met Gala than Ariana Grande.
The singer, 30, was carried into her musical performance by four men on Monday, May 6, as she lay atop a white pillow. Grande opened her stage show with the song “Once Upon a Dream” from Disney’s animated film Sleeping Beauty, a literal nod to the Met Gala’s 2024 theme of “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
She posted a clip of her ethereal entrance on Instagram, pulling in plenty of compliments from big-name fans. “STUNNING and MAGICAL!!! 🤩🤩,” Kris Jenner wrote. “WOW. WOW. WOW,” Tan France added.
Grande’s performance included “Into You” from Dangerous Woman, “Seven Rings” from Thank U, Next and “We Can’t Be Friends” from her newest album, Eternal Sunshine. She closed out the show alongside her Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo, as the two belted out “When You Believe,” a tune made popular in 1998 by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston on the Prince of Egypt’s soundtrack.
Grande and Erivo, 37, made dazzling appearances on the turquoise carpet ahead of their stage show, posing arm-in-arm at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Erivo rocked a Thom Browne gown featuring sequins and pink petals, adding a whimsical touch with a bedazzled bug pendant. Grande, meanwhile, wore a Loewe gown, which featured a mother of pearl bodice and flowing skirt. Her look gave a wink to her upcoming role as Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, which lands in theaters in November 2024.
“The idea for my look was to create an ethereal look, inspired by nature and by the way that mother of pearl reflects light,” Grande told Vogue in an interview published on the day of the gala. “Pearl is my birth stone, so it’s very meaningful to me for that reason—as well as the subtle ways in which I feel like it nods to Glinda’s bubble, and to Wicked with its subtle opalescent winks of pink and green.”
When it came to her performance outfit — a structured corset featuring tulle and crystals — Grande heaped similar praise, noting that she’s never felt “more me” than when she put on the ensemble.
“It is my favorite thing I’ve ever worn, and I’d like to never take it off,” she told the outlet. “I mean it—they will have to try their very best to pry it off of me.”
