Ariana Grande made sure your week started with a little extra bit of “sunshine.”
After a busy weekend that saw Grande, 30, release her new album, appear on Saturday Night Live and present the Best Original Song award at the 2024 Oscars, she capped things off by putting out the “Slightly Deluxe” edition of Eternal Sunshine. The new edition, released Monday, March 11, includes four new tracks, including the “Yes, And?” remix featuring Mariah Carey and a version of “Supernatural” featuring Troye Sivan.
The “slightly” expanded Eternal Sunshine also includes two other new tracks: an acoustic version of “Imperfect for You,” one of the songs she performed on the Saturday, March 9 episode of SNL, and an acapella version of “True Story.”
Eternal Sunshine, released on Friday, March 8, marked Grande’s first major musical project since her divorce from Dalton Gomez. Grande and Gomez, 28, split in 2023 after two years of marriage before finalizing the divorce in October. An insider claimed to Us Weekly that the two had been separated in January 2023 and were well on their way to divorce when she struck up a romance with her Wicked costar, Ethan Slater.
While some sources said Slater, 31, was also estranged from his wife of four years, Lilly Jay, other insiders hinted at holes in the timeline. The timing of her breakup and new relationship led some to accuse her of being a “homewrecker,” which left her with a “hellish feeling.” (Slater and Jay, who share one child, are still in the middle of divorce proceedings.)
“I feel like we don’t need to go into any specifics, but, of course, there’s like an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people, misunderstand the people you love and you and anything,” she said on “The Zach Sang Show” on the Amazon Music.
A day after Eternal Sunshine hit streaming services, Grande issued a decree to her fans. “Anyone that is sending hateful messages to the people in my life based on your interpretation of the album is not supporting me and is absolutely doing the polar opposite of what I would ever encourage (and is also entirely misinterpreting the intention behind the music),” she wrote. “I ask that you please do not.”
Grande added that though her new album “captures a lot of painful moments,” there is a “through line of deep, sincere love” that fans should remember.
Though Grande’s new album is full of allusions to her new romance with Slater and her falling out with Gomez, one of the more explicit references to her divorce is “I Wish I Hated You.’ The song captures that “through line of love” she mentioned in her message, with her singing “And no matter how easy things could be if I did and no matter how guilty I feel saying it / I wish I hated you.” The song also references how she’s “hoping life brings you no new pain” as she bids the former love goodbye.
