Ariana Grande completed her 41-date Eternal Sunshine tour with an emotional final performance at London’s O2 Arena on Tuesday, before stepping back from public life for an extended break.
The 33-year-old singer became tearful during the sold-out show, which brought her 10-night London residency and the three-month tour to a close.
Speaking to the audience from the stage about halfway through the two-hour concert, Grande thanked fans for making the tour “one of the most beautiful, extraordinary experiences of my life”.
“I just want to express my gratitude without sobbing completely,” she told the crowd, according to Variety. “But really, thank you from the bottom of my heart, it’s been so special and I’ll cherish this experience always. I have the best fans in the entire world and I always have.”
“And I love your outfits, I love your faces, I love seeing you, I love connecting with you in this way. Thank you for all of your effort for making this so special,” she added. “All your messages and your costumes and your wardrobe and makeup is just so beautiful. I have loved every minute of this with you all and I just want to make sure I express how grateful I am. Thank you, and I love you so much.”
Grande began the tour with three shows in Oakland, California, in June and went on to perform a total of 41 shows across North America and London, with the final 10 taking place at the O2 Arena. Just like her penultimate show, she wore flat, above-the-knee boots, having announced earlier that she would need to wear “cosy footwear” on stage after suffering a “deep cut” to her foot.
The Wicked star also changed the lyrics to “thank you, next”. “Wrote some songs about Ricky/I’m tryna make him my last,” she said, referring to former boyfriend Ricky Alvarez. While the “Side to Side” singer didn’t confirm publicly that they were back, she made an Instagram post in August of the two together.
“i’m tryna make him my last” yeah she’s down BAD pic.twitter.com/wfJB7WhhmG
— ariana feeds (@arianafeeds) September 1, 2026
In a review of Grande’s show, The Independent’s Adam White wrote that the staging was “confined to the burnt-out husk of a house, which is first engulfed in flames, then weeds, then flowers, while police car sirens and helicopter spotlights suggest violent state surveillance”.
“The show’s ethereal closer – in which Grande, her body slack and floating, is absorbed into a great, white light in the rafters of the O2 – is beautiful yet strangely morbid. Is this a symbolic... death?” he wrote. “Whatever we’re meant to take from all of this, it undoubtedly feels like a goodbye.”
Grande’s decision to step back from the spotlight comes after months of intense public scrutiny of her appearance and health.
In a statement issued in August, the singer said she looked forward to “finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny”.
At a show in Chicago soon after, the “we can’t be friends” singer read from a prepared note, telling her fans that the announcement wasn’t “a reactive or impulsive thing”. “It’s something that I had decided to plan,” she said.
Her hiatus will take her out of the forthcoming London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George at the Barbican. Grande had been due to appear opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey, who announced on Tuesday that he too was withdrawing from the production.
“Ari is one of my dearest friends, and my support for her is unwavering. Marianne is extraordinary and one of my longest collaborators and friends. After much consideration, I have decided to also step back from Sunday in the Park with George,” the 38-year-old said in a statement shared on social media.
Grande will be seen next in Focker-In-Law, the latest instalment in the Meet the Parents franchise, due to arrive in cinemas on 25 November. Directed by John Hamburg, who co-wrote the previous three films in the series, the comedy reunites Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, with Grande playing Olivia Jones, a former FBI hostage negotiator who is dating Stiller’s character Greg Focker’s son, Henry.
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040
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