Why this could be the best year of Ariana Grande

"The Light Is Coming" is not just a song title, it's a promise.

It's been a little over a year Ariana Grande endured the worst night of his life, when a terrorist blew up a bomb outside his concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 fans and injuring more than 500 others. She mobilized immediately after, organizing a tribute concert that raised more than $ 13 million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. Grande was exiled in the months that followed, emerging only for a shoe event in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the pop princess has quietly started recording Sweetener, his fourth studio album for Republic Records. Great, whose previous successes include Bang Bang, Break Free, Dangerous Woman, Focus, Into You, Love Me Harder, One Last Time, Problem, Side to Side ". "and" The Way ", was deeply affected by the tragedy, and he changed the direction of his new album." When I started to take care of myself, the balance, the freedom and the joy spread through the music, I felt more inclined to tap into my feelings because I was spending more time with them. "more," she said TIME. "I was more in therapy."

In April, Grande released "No Tears Left to Cry", the critically acclaimed lead single of the album. The term "timeless" The Guardianof Laura Snapes praised the song for being "one of the happiest and most provocative celebrations of pop." Similarly, Pitchfork Meaghan Garvey says that the track is "striking in its optimism", while Varietyof Chris Willman called "the sweetest and most dancing post-traumatic hymn of recovery". Great co-wrote the song with Savan Kotecha and its producers There is and Max Martin, setting the tone for a new era. "The intro is slow, and then it picks up," said Grande Sam Lansky, TIMEThe publisher of the West Coast. "And his sure pick up things. "

As "No Tears Left to Cry" has climbed the charts, Grande and her team have carefully planned her return to the honor. She first surprised the fans by posing for Kygois at Coachella, then opens the 2018 Billboard Music Awards and later supported an episode of Tonight's show with Jimmy Fallon (both of which have been broadcast on NBC, the network brother of E!). She also said Jimmy Fallon she intends to do "something special" on the 20th of each month before the release of her album on August 17th. And, when she did not share excerpts of her new material on social media, she was interacting with fans more regularly than she had been in recent months.

But it was not all, all the time, of course.

In early May, Grande confirmed that her two-year relationship with rapper and collaborator Mac Miller had quietly ended. Sharing a photo with her ex-boyfriend on Instagram Stories, she wrote: "It's one of my best friends in the world and the favorite people on the planet." I respect him and adore him constantly and I am grateful to have him in my life. In any form, at any time, regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us! "Miller, who was arrested for impaired driving and executed a week later, did not publicly talk about his breakup with Grande; days after he went to court, it was revealed that she was in an "occasional" relationship with Saturday Night Liveof Pete Davidson, who naturally raised a few eyebrows on social media. So on May 23, Grande responded to one of his detractors on Twitter, arguing that it was "absurd" to suggest that "someone should stay in a toxic relationship" simply because of from a shared musical story. "I am not a babysitter or a mother and no woman should feel the need to be a babysitter," she wrote, adding that she had "tried to support her sobriety" and prayed for his recovery. "Shamer / blaming women for the inability of a man to keep his s-t together is a very important issue," she added. "I will continue to pray from the bottom of my heart for it to understand everything," wrote the singer, "and that any other woman in this position does as well."

In the end, Grande's new relationship was more serious than anyone – maybe even she – realized. At first, Davidson spent $ 93,000 on an engagement ring, a jeweler Greg Yuna I said. "Pete called me at the end of May and said, 'Listen, I'm going to make a ringtone, that's what I want.' And I told him that I had the right ring for him, he did not tell me who it was but he told me to keep the secret, "he said. he says to E! New. "He did not say anything about it." It took two weeks to make the 3-carat pear-shaped ring. Grande first wore her ring in public on iHeartRadio and the 102.7 KIISFM concerto Wango Tango in LA on June 2, and the couple continued to hint at their engagement for weeks on social media . Finally, when Davidson appeared on The evening show June 21, he confirmed the news. "I feel like I won a contest, it's so sick," he said. As for the attention paid to their commitment, he wondered: "Why do people care? (Of course, the Instagram posts of the two stars have only made their relationship interesting.)

The ubiquitous Grande – who is 26 years old today – is on the verge of what could be one of the best years of her life. With an album on the way and a wedding going on, she gave no indication that she would go back into hiding. In fact, she is currently featured on two singles from the artist-Nicki Minaj"Bed" and Troye Sivan"Dance to this". And, on June 20, she released "The Light Is Coming" as a promotional single for fans pre-ordering Sweetener on digital services. She is nominated in two categories at 2018 Teen Choice Award and will probably be a major competitor when the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards nominations are unveiled this summer. A tour seems inevitable, although nothing has been officially announced. (Yet.) While opponents may question her personal and professional decisions, she seems to be in a happy place. A nice place. Is not that what counts? She has found the light, and she will not diminish its brightness.