American singer Ariana Grande opened the final leg of her Eternal Sunshine Tour at London's O2 Arena on Saturday night before beginning a year-long hiatus from public life.
The 33-year-old pop star announced two weeks ago during a performance in Chicago that she was stepping back from her career to set boundaries, telling fans that human beings need a break sometimes.
Her planned retreat has led the performer to withdraw from an upcoming stage production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sunday In The Park With George, which was scheduled to take place at London's Barbican Theatre next year.
Tour hiatus and career workload
The decision to pause public appearances follows five years of continuous work for Grande. During that period, she starred as Glinda the Good in two Wicked film adaptations, completed extensive global promotional duties, filmed the comedy Focker-in-Law, released two studio albums, and launched her latest concert tour.
Her film work on Wicked and last year's sequel Wicked: For Good generated a worldwide box office total of around £1 billion, cementing her status as one of the top global entertainment figures.
Staging and tight concert security
On Saturday night, Grande delivered hits spanning her career, including tracks from Dangerous Woman to Thank U, Next, with her vocal performance described as powerful throughout the sold-out show.
The concert featured elaborate visual staging built around a flooded, burned-out house that was gradually overgrown with flowers as the evening progressed.
Many fans attending the show at the O2 Arena wore black dresses and black bunny ears in a nod to the artist's look from her 2016 album Dangerous Woman. Security at the venue was exceptionally tight, with attendees allowed to carry only transparent bags and urged to bring essential items only.
Tragedy, personal trials, and success
Strict security precautions have been standard at Grande's concerts since May 2017, when Islamist suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people and injured more than 1,000 others at the end of her Manchester Arena show.
Grande, who was 23 at the time of the attack, described herself as broken after the bombing and has since spoken of living with post-traumatic stress disorder. Two weeks after the tragedy, she organized the One Love Manchester benefit concert at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, performing alongside Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Liam Gallagher to raise funds for victims.
The singer has also navigated personal grief and high-profile relationship breakups over the past decade, including the 2018 death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller from an accidental drug overdose. Her personal life included an engagement to comedian Pete Davidson, a near three-year marriage to estate agent Dalton Gomez, and a recent split months ago from Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.
Despite past hardships, Saturday's sold-out performance demonstrated that Grande remains one of the world's biggest music stars as she prepares for her upcoming time away from the spotlight.
