Who was Frank Grande? Ariana Grande's grandfather died because of cancer at 90

Ariana Grande, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, was reportedly close to her grandfather, Frank Grande, who unfortunately passed away in 2014 after a long-drawn battle with cancer, according to Capital JM. Frank was 90 years old at the time.

Ariana's fandom wiki reports that Frank Grande was born in 1923 in New York City, where he first met Marjorie, whom she calls Nonna, as kids, as the two used to live in the same neighborhood. Frank and Marjorie started dating, shortly after which he was enlisted in the military and had to leave.

When Frank returned from the army, he got engaged to Marjorie, and the couple tied the knot in 1946. Following the wedding, the two settled down in Boca Raton, Florida, where they had two daughters, Judy and Joan (Grande's mother).

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Ariana Grande's single from her debut album had a clip of her grandparents' love story

Ariana Grande has always loved her grandparents' love story, which is evident in her debut album's single, Daydreamin'. According to Billboard, while it is a light-hearted track about a young crush, towards the end of it, as Ariana drifts off into a dream, a brief audio clip of her grandparents telling how they met plays in the background.

In 2012, when Grande was 19, her grandfather watched her perform live for the first time in the stage production of A Snow White Christmas, which took place in the Pasadena Playhouse, L.A.

However, things took an unfortunate turn in 2014 when Frank became ill and was bedridden. In July, when things reportedly looked bad for him, the 7 Rings singer dropped everything to be with him.

According to Billboard, Grande was scheduled to perform at the Roots Philly 4th of July Jam on the Benjamin Frankly Highway, which she canceled due to a family emergency, as per her team.

Having returned to Florida, Ariana Grande announced that she would cut short her New York trip to be by her grandparents' side. Later that month, Frank Grande passed away on July 22. The singer-songwriter paid tribute to her grandfather in her own way.

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Ariana Grande got her grandfather's nickname for her tattoo

Following the death of Frank Grande, Ariana Grande decided to etch his memory permanently on her skin by getting the nickname he used for her tattooed on the left side of her rib. She got the word "Bellissima" inked, which is an Italian term for "gorgeous."

Grande also sang My Everything at every concert following Frank's death in 2014. Four years later, when Grande was engaged to Pete Davidson and the subject of her changing her name was brought up, the Thank U, Next singer said that she would always keep her surname because:

"I have to keep Grande because of my grandpa. I think of him in everything I'm doing, and he was so proud of our name. I should keep it."

Towards the end of 2020, the news of Grande and Dalton Gomez's engagement was announced on social media, with pictures of her engagement ring revealed.

According to Elle, Grande's followers claimed that the pearl on the ring was the same one that her Nonna had created for her out of Frank's tie pin back in 2014. Ariana had revealed that her grandfather appeared to Nonna in a dream one night and told her that the pearl would protect Grande.

However, Ariana's marriage to Dalton didn't last. Whether or not Grande still possesses the ring is unknown, but she hasn't been spotted wearing it in public.