Ariana's Cover Of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" Is Wickedly Good
She's sticking to Ozian music, for now.
Ever since Ariana Grande announced in November 2021 that she’d been cast as Glinda in the upcoming two-part Wicked movies, the star has put her music career on hold to focus on acting. As such, rumors have spread about Grande potentially quitting music altogether. But on Friday, Jan. 20, she shut down the noise by posting an a cappella cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on TikTok.
In the two-minute-long clip, Grande is seen wearing an oversized pink sweater while singing the classic song from The Wizard of Oz. “Wanted to sing you a little something but don’t want to sing anything that is not ‘Ozian’ at the moment :),” Grande captioned the video. “Keeping to my little bubble for now … done with lots of love.”
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was originally performed by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. The 1939 film inspired Gregory Maguire to write the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which got turned into a stage musical and is now being adapted into two movies starring Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Grande’s TikTok comes following fan commentary about her career, such as, “Why aren’t you a singer anymore?!?!?!” In response, Grande wrote that she was “literally on set filming two musical movies all day every day.” The star added that in the video, she was actually getting ready to transform into her Wicked character Glinda, which is why she covered her hair with her sweater in order to prevent spoilers.
Grande began her music career by starring in the Broadway musical 13, so her role in Wicked is a fitting one. Although the first Wicked movie won’t premiere until December 2024, Grande’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” proves that she hasn’t lost her signature musical theater voice.
As for the rumors Grande has quit music, it’s likely she’ll return to pop and R&B bops once she wraps production on Wicked. After all, prior to getting cast in the film, Grande dropped a handful of albums back to back, so focusing on acting for a bit could be a good break for her.
After dropping her fourth studio album, Sweetener, in 2018, Grande returned the following year with Thank U, Next. She then kept the momentum going by releasing Positions in October 2020.
Grande has yet to announce when to expect her seventh studio album.
