Ariana Grande Drops Out Of Grammys After Artistic Differences

Ariana Grande - "7 Rings" Music Video

If you plan to watch this Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony, you shouldn't expect to see Ariana Grande perform. That's because the pop music artist has decided to step down from this year's awards show over what was deemed artistic differences. Here's what we know about Grande's departure.

As it was reported by Variety, Ariana Grande is no longer participating in the CBS awards show ceremony, due to disagreements with the producers of the program. Initially, they did not want the performer to play her newest hit song, "7 Rings," during the awards show ceremony, but they eventually decided that she would be allowed to sing this song if the Grammys chose what song she would play during her second performance of the night. Grande reportedly refused this proposition, and the artist backed out of the show -- even though it's less than a week away from commencing.

The entertainment business is fraught with difficulties. But this one is a particularly big headache for the Grammys. Not only is the show mere days away, but they have already put up billboards around the Los Angeles area promoting Grande's once-forthcoming performances during the ceremony.

When it comes to dropping out of the Grammys, a spokesperson for Ariana Grande claims that these regulations sanctioned by the music awards show were only enforced on Grande, not the other performers set to appear during Sunday night's show. She felt cheated, ultimately, and opted to walk.

Ariana Grande was scheduled to perform at the Grammys in order to promote her new album, Thank U, Next, which is set to hit shelves on Friday. "7 Rings" was one of the most well-known songs to appear on the upcoming album, and the artist wanted to make a point of performing it for that reason. But the Grammys and Ariana Grande ultimately didn't see eye-to-eye on this matter. Rather than compromise, Grande decided the show won't go on.

It's unclear if the Grammys are currently scrambling to come up with a last-minute replacement for Ariana Grande, or if they'll just have less music performances during Sunday's ceremony. But it sounds like it's a bigger loss for the Grammys than Grande. She is one of the most well-recognized and popular music artists in the business right now, and if they can't agree with her on this fairly simple-seeming matter, then she won't be performing.

Even though Ariana Grande is no longer planning to perform during Sunday's Grammy Awards, she will likely still be in attendance. She is nominated for two Grammy awards, including Best Pop Vocal Performance for her song "God Is A Woman" and Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener. Whether or not she is set to win either or both of these awards is a matter that will be determined later this weekend during CBS's big awards show.

This is not the first time the Grammys have had difficulties booking an artist onto their awards show. Lorde declined to perform during last year's show under similar circumstances. The artist was also up for several awards that evening. Hopefully, this problem doesn't repeat itself next year.

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Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.