Ariana Grande is back and better than ever at the 2024 MET Gala.
The prestigious fundraising Gala may be recognized as one of the fashion industry’s biggest nights, yet this year’s edition featured a spectacular display of musical talent — thanks to Grande’s surprise headlining performance at the Metropolitan Museum. Her live performance marks her first time on a live stage in five years, wherein she played a seven-song set of her biggest hits –– with three of them marking their debut live renditions.
Photographed by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Grande began her performance with her own rendition of the “Once Upon A Dream” track from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (aligning with this year’s MET Gala theme), and proceeded to perform her 2016 hit single “Into You“, as well as 2019’s “7 rings“. Off her recently released seventh studio album eternal sunshine, the beloved pop played three tracks, including “yes, and?“, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)“, and “the boy is mine“, before closing off her musical set together with Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo for a cover of “When You Believe”.
The celebrated hitmaker’s musical showcase brought 30 dancers and the 40-person choir, Broadway Inspirational Voices, on stage as she stood in front of the fashion crowd at the Temple of Dendur. Watch the recorded clips below to see what went down with her performance last night.
Earlier on in the night, Grande partook in the red carpet festivities at the Metropolitan Museum’s iconic steps donning a custom, elegant ‘mother of pearl’ look crafted by designer Jonathan Anderson and his team at Loewe. Speaking to Vogue about the experience, the “yes, and?” singer-songwriter opted for that look stating; “Pearl is my birthstone, 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.”
Photographed by Katia Temkin/Vogue
For her performance, she changed into an entirely different attire designed by John Galliano of Maison Margiela, wearing a fantasy-oriented design that featured a structured corset and an overlay of tulle and crystals. “I’ve never felt more beautiful or more ‘me’ in a performance look than I did in this one,” Grande mentions to Vogue. “I felt like a Margiela fairy from John’s own planet, which is something I have dreamed of being for years. It is my favorite thing I’ve ever worn, and I’d like to never take it off. I mean it—they will have to try their very best to pry it off of me.”
Photographed by Katia Temkin
Aside from her showstopping MET Gala 2024 appearance, Grande has a booked and busy 2024 right in front of her –– which includes her forthcoming appearance as Glinda in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked, as well as the continuation of her promotional rollout for her recently-released record, eternal sunshine.
Listen to eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande below: