Ariana Grande is “really thankful” for the impact Mac Miller had on her career.
The 32-year-old actress and singer has reflected on her late ex-boyfriend – who she dated from 2016 until 2018, when they split just four months before his tragic death aged 26 in September that year – and how he inspired her to make “R+B influenced pop music”.
Speaking to students at Chapman University, Ariana said in a clip shared on TikTok: “I’m really thankful for that.”
The Wicked star revealed she decided to get the Best Day Ever rapper on her track The Way because of his advice.
She added: “That’s also part of why I was so eager to ask him to be a part of it.
“Not only because he was perfect for the song, but I also felt like I had him to thank for finding my sound.”
Miller died from overdose in 2018, and Ariana has paid tribute to him over the years.
In 2020, she told Apple Music: “I think that nothing mattered more to him than music ever. “And he was the kind of person who woke up and rolled into the studio, tumbled out of bed, into the studio next door.
“Nothing was more important. Talk about losing track of time and forgetting to eat, remind yourself to take care of yourself and be a person.
“He was a person who gave literally every single second of his thought and time and life to his music.”
Ariana also pointed to the “many incredible and different bodies of work” he left behind.
She added: “It has to be, it’s just such a beautiful gift I think that he kind of touched the world with, and I think the thing he’d want most is for us to just appreciate it and not forget about it.”
She had previously reflected on the grief she felt when he passed, acknowledging that while their relationship wasn’t “perfect”, she still thought he was “the best person ever”.
She told Vogue magazine in 2019: “It’s pretty all-consuming.
“By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f***. He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had.
“I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming… less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away.”
