Ariana Grande included a special nod to late ex Mac Miller while putting a new spin on her debut album, Yours Truly.
Grande, 30, dropped a new deluxe version of her 2013 record on Friday, August 25, to celebrate its milestone anniversary. Along with the tracks fans know and love, the expanded edition of Yours Truly featured two fresh takes on her duet with Miller titled “The Way” — a “Live From London” version and a “Spanglish” version.
The “Live From London” recording begins with Grande showcasing her impressive vocal range before Miller’s first verse. Grande continues to belt the catchy lyrics, finishing off the performance with a trademark high note.
At the end of an official video shared via Grande’s YouTube channel on Friday, a small but powerful tribute to Miller appears. “Feat. Mac Miller,” reads a message in white text on a black background.
Miller isn’t the only one of Grande’s former flames to appear on Yours Truly. She collaborated with ex Big Sean on the song “Right There,” which also earned a “Live From London” version on the rerelease. (Its YouTube video, however, doesn’t include a shout-out like the one Miller received.)
Grande and Miller were close friends before they began dating in 2016. “I met him when I was 19,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2017. “We have loved and adored and respected each other since the beginning, since before we even met, just because we were fans of each other’s talent. We weren’t ready at all, though, to be together. It’s just timing.”
The pair recorded six songs together over the years, including his 2016 track “My Favorite Part.”
In May 2018, Grande confirmed that she and Miller had called it quits. He died of an accidental drug overdose four months later at age 26.
Grande mourned her ex-boyfriend in a heartfelt tribute shared via Instagram at the time. “I can’t believe you aren’t here anymore. … i’m so mad,” she wrote. “I’mm so sad i don’t know what to do. you were my dearest friend. for so long. above anything else. i’m so sorry i couldn’t fix or take your pain away. i really wanted to. the kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. i hope you’re okay now. rest.”
Two years later, Grande reflected on Miller’s “beautiful” passion for his art. “I think that nothing mattered more to him than music, ever,” she said in a May 2020 interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1. “And he was the kind of person who woke up and rolled into the studio, tumbled out of bed, into the studio next door. … He was a person who gave literally every single second of his thought and time and life to his music.”
After Miller, Grande was famously engaged to Pete Davidson for four months in 2018. She later dated Mikey Foster before moving on with Dalton Gomez, whom she wed in May 2021. Us Weekly confirmed in July that the twosome had separated amid Grande’s on-set romance with Wicked costar Ethan Slater.
