This year has been notably rough for Ariana Grande, between the end of her engagement and the loss of Mac Miller. The young singing sensation has notably taken a lot of time off and a few steps back to dedicate time to her mental health. As those who follow Grande know, she’s always been very open about the importance of taking care of yourself mentally. She, however, hasn’t let the rough year stop her from working on her music.
In just three months, Grande kicks off her Sweetener tour. Per Ariana’s website , her tour kicks off toward the end of March in Albany, NY. The events page of her website reveals the singer will travel across the United States performing at tons of locations before wrapping back around to New York City on June 18 to perform at Madison Square Garden.
News recently broke that former Fifth Harmony member, Normani Kordei, would be joining Grande on the tour. Speaking to Billboard per Daily Mail , Normani can’t stop gushing about how excited she is to tour alongside Ariana.
“She’s such an incredible woman… I’m really grateful to spend the next three months with her. She’s such a cool person. Her Thank U, Next video is probably like the best video I’ve seen in all of 2018,” the 22-year-old singer gushed about Grande.
As Daily Mail reminds us, Ariana isn’t the only big name in the singing industry the young Normani will have had the pleasure of working with. Recently, the former Fifth Harmony singer has been spending time at the studio working with none other than Pharrell Williams.
. @Normani Hits The Studio With @Pharrell For Debut Solo Album https://t.co/TtCbv5hwQg pic.twitter.com/0wNSKiZZJZ
— ThatGrapeJuice (Sam) (@thatgrapejuice) December 8, 2018
While Williams and Kordei were working on her music during the time they had spent together in the studio, she admitted that she would have liked the opportunity to just sit and watch how a talented artist such as Pharrell works.
“I had a session with Pharrell. It was really dope… He’s hype, especially when he’s feeling a record. He’s just a mastermind. I love seeing the greats at work. Even though it was my session, I was like, ‘I just want to sit back and just watch you do what you do,” Normani explained.
. @Normani says she’s looking forward to some quality girl time with @ArianaGrande. #Z100JingleBall https://t.co/QfCMocBlR3
— Z100 New York (@Z100NewYork) December 8, 2018
Looking to the future – Normani cannot wait to see what 2019 has in store for her. She expects great things from the R&B music genre and hopes her newest single “Waves” will be a strong contender.
“I think that 2019 is gonna be a really big year in terms of R&B and where music is going. I hope that ‘Waves’ is a representation of what is to come and hopefully I can be part of it,” she explained.