Ariana Grande Turns Stage Into a Slumber Party at Grammy Awards

By Klaritza Rico

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Pop music’s reigning princess Ariana Grande gave an intimate performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards as she transformed the Staples Center stage into a bedroom and slumber party. Grande, who arrived at the Grammys in a voluminous grey tulle dress, made numerous costume changes throughout the evening.

Joined by an orchestra and a team of dancers clad in silky robes, the singer slayed the stage with her hits “7 Rings,” “Imagine,” and “Thank U Next,” all of which are featured on her album of the same name.

After singing “Imagine,” she went into a version of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music.” That segued into “7 Rings,” which samples the movie soundtrack staple.

The 26-year-old artist is nominated for an impressive five nominations at music’s biggest night, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. She was supposed to perform at the event in 2019, but plans fell through after producers declined to allow her to perform her new hit at the time, “7 Rings.” An agreement had been reached in which Grande could perform the track as part of the medley, but the singer pulled out of the performance and refused to attend the event after producers insisted that the second song would be of their choosing.

Grande was also in recent news over “7 Rings.” She is being sued by songwriter Josh Stone who claims that the pop singer ripped off the chorus to a song he wrote two years prior. Stone claims that he wrote a song called, “You Need It, I Got It” in 2017 that he played for producer Tommy Brown, who has worked extensively with Grande.

This isn’t the first time complaints have been aimed at the popular song. Soulja Boy, Princess Nokia and 2 Chainz have all made claims, via social media, of “7 Rings” being very similar to some of their songs.