Ariana Grande addresses changing her voice for "vocal health" after backlash from fans

Ariana Grande set the record straight about her voice shifts after an interview clip that showcased a drastic change in the pop star's voice went viral. Grande appeared on Podcrushed on Monday, June 17. Sometime during the second half of the podcast episode, the pop star's speaking voice allegedly drastically changed, which turned netizens' heads.

The Thank You, Next singer has a good explanation for the drastic change in the way she talks. She hopped into the comments section of a video clip of her Podcrushed podcast appearance on TikTok, writing:

"habit (speaking like this for two years) and also vocal health :) I intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing I'm doing. I've always done this BYE," she wrote in the comments.

Before the pop star's response, the clip of her appearance on the Penn Badgley-hosted podcast went viral with many social media users commenting on her changing voice.

"Like why does she wanna sound like that. Her real voice is fine," one X user commented.

"Why does she keep doing the glindiana voice? Her normal voice is just fine," another netizen said.

"I feel like she dk how to separate herself from the characters she plays she did this a long time after playing cat valentine," another X user noted.

Other netizens also compared the pop star's altered speaking voice to Austin Butler's Elvis Presley accent that stayed with the actor long after he played the rock and roll legend in a biopic.

"Austin Butler Elvis voice voice but it's Ariana Grande Galinda voice," an X user wrote.

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Ariana Grande worked to transform her voice for Wicked

Over several years, the pop star has been committed to her role as Glinda in the film adaptation of Wicked. And, it's partly because of her transformation for the role that fans have heard more frequent shifts in the singer's voice lately.

During a February 2024 interview on the Zach Sang Show, the pop singer opened up about having to "transform" her voice as she prepares to audition for the film's Glinda role. She told Zach Sang:

"I trained every day...to transform my voice even, like my singing voice. Everything about me I had to kind of deconstruct to prove to them that I could handle taking on this other person."

In another March interview with Zane Lowe, the pop star also shared needing to compartmentalize while she worked on the upcoming film. She said:

"Everything from the way I sing to the way I speak, everything kind of had to be different for a long time so that I could be fully present in it."

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The first part Wicked is expected to hit theaters in late November with the second part of the adaptation slated for a 2025 release.