Why Ariana Grande’s Recent Voice Change Is Very Normal

We are four months away from the release of part one of the live-action version of Wicked. The musical, which took two years to film and was interrupted due to the SAG-AFTRA strike when just ten days of filming were left, has been highly anticipated by Wicked fans for years.

There have been many stories to come out of this film and its star-studded cast, most notably the news that Ariana Grande was dating co-star Ethan Slater, who, to the public’s knowledge at the time, was married with a young child at home.

While that story has died down, Ariana has once again found herself in the headlines due to the change in her voice.

When taking on the role of Glinda, Ariana has often mentioned how important it was for her to get it right, especially as she has been a longtime fan of the Broadway production. Therefore, she did method acting so she could fully be in character throughout filming. But after immersing herself into Glinda for so long, it seemingly has affected how her voice sounds post-filming.

In the last few weeks, a clip of her being interviewed on Penn Badgley’s podcast, Podcrushed, has gone viral after a listener heard a noticeable shift in her voice mid-conversation.

@scatsplat #arianagrande #fypage ♬ original sound – .

Ariana commented under the TikTok to defend herself:

This would not be the only time Ariana commented on her vocal health in recent times. 

This week, she appeared on her friend Evan Ross Katz’s podcast, Shut Up Evan, and addressed the issue once again. 

“That’s a normal thing people do,” she said when Evan brought up the viral TikTok about her voice change.

“I did just spend a long time playing a character every single day and training my voice to sort of do different things.

“It’s an instrument, and muscle memory is a real thing,” she said when referring to her voice.

 

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This is not the only time Ariana’s vocal pitch has changed throughout her fourteen years in the entertainment industry.

As a teenager, she starred in Victorious. Her voice at the time was quite high-pitched in interviews, similar to how her character Cat sounded. That tone continued in the early days of her music career.

Slowly, her voice began getting deeper, and during the pandemic, her voice hit its lowest octave. As she was not performing or acting during that time, she had time to rest her voice and avoid changing her vocal placement, as she does now, to help her vocal health.

While Ariana has her reasons for changing her pitch, it is also normal for a woman’s voice to deepen with age. You can suffer from vocal fatigue, which makes your voice hoarse. For someone like Ariana, who sings and talks a lot, it is natural that her voice would deepen. 

Ariana is not the only actor whose voice has been altered after playing an iconic character. 

Austin Butler’s voice notably changed after playing Elvis. The film, which took two years to make, left Austin with a deeper voice resembling the King of Rock and Roll. His commitment to method acting has left him unable to shake off it since filming wrapped in March 2021.

@elvispresleyxm Austin butler’s voice before and after Elvis movie#elvispresley #austinbutler ♬ original sound – Elvis Presley

While Ariana never mentioned Austin by name on the Shut Up Evan podcast, she did refer to the double standard of how people react differently to male actors who immerse themselves in their characters compared to female actors.

“They’re like, ‘Oh, wow, how dedicated to his craft. What an amazing transformation. He is a brilliant performer.’ And then if God forbid, I sneeze like Glinda.”

If changing her voice keeps it healthy for singing and acting, then we’re all for it. We’re always keen for a new Ariana bop.

One thing is for sure, Ariana has put her all into playing Glinda, and we can’t wait to see her in Wicked when it comes out in November.

Words by Amélie Mahony

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• Ariana Grande