Ariana Grande's legal name will be making an appearance in the credits of her forthcoming film, Wicked: Ariana Grande-Butera. According to Billboard, the Thank U, Next singer described the decision as "homecoming."
The Universal film sees Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande embody the popular witches Elphaba Thropp and Glinda the Good Witch of the North in their heyday. It was directed by Jon M. Chu, and just last month, the movie was screened for audiences comprising critics, media personalities, and the press, where many noticed the minute detail.
Ariana Grande says her decision is a "love note" to the film Wicked
Reflecting on her choices, she said:
"Technically, it’s my little girl name! It’s technically little Ari’s name. It just feels like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways, through what I learned from Glinda and Elphaba.”
She went on:
"That was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old, and it felt like a really lovely way of honoring her. It’s a love note to her. It felt really full circle and something I wanted to do.”
Ariana Grande-Butera's decision to use her official name is unprecedented, given that she dropped her father's name, Butera, a long time ago. She rolled with Grande, her mother Joan's surname, for a large part of her life, and it is widely known that the singer was estranged from her father, a graphic designer named Edward, for a long time.
According to multiple outlets, the two reportedly had a falling out in 2013, although it has yet to be confirmed, and details surrounding the same remain scarce. Edward and Joan separated when Ariana was just a child.
According to the New Zealand Herald, Grande and her father have since set their differences aside, and the two were even papped hugging at the 2020 Grammy Awards. The singer has also been sharing snaps of their time spent together over the years on social media.
In speaking with Seventeen in 2017, the Grammy-winning songstress touched on how hard it was for her, emotionally, to keep away from her kin.
"It took me so long to be okay with it. So much of me comes from my father, and for so long, I didn’t like that about myself. I had to accept that it’s okay not to get along with somebody and still love them.”
In Ariana Grande's 2018 hit, Thank U, Next, the following bar refers to the father-daughter relationship:
"One day I’ll walk down the aisle/Holding hands with my mama/I’ll be thanking my dad/‘Cause she grew from the drama.”
Butera himself has often shared photos of him and his daughter on Instagram, such as when on October 1, he shared a throwback image of a young Ariana Grande. The singer herself commented, declaring her love for her father:
"i love you :’)"
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Wicked is slated to roll onto the big screens on November 20. It acts as the prequel to The Wizard of Oz and follows the tale of Elphaba and Glinda as they traverse the lands and form an unlikely bond along the way.
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