Ariana Grande Reveals Why She Wasn't Planning to Release a New Album Until at Least 2025

The 'Wicked' star also revealed why her touring plans for her upcoming album 'Eternal Sunshine' are still "TBD"

Ariana Grande had no plans to put out a new record. But when the strike hit, so did some inspiration.

The result? Eternal Sunshine, her seventh studio album, set for release on March 8.

“I did not plan to [make new music now]. I didn’t have the goal to make an album,” she said on the Zach Sang Show Monday. “I actually was really opposed to coming out with music until after Wicked, either both parts or just one part. I wasn’t sure how I would feel.”

But when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down production on Wicked, Grande, 30, headed to New York City, where she teamed up with producer Max Martin for a week.

“It all just kind of started pouring out and after our first week together I kept coming to the studio every day by myself, and it just kinda kept organically happening that way, so I just decided to react and listen to that and I thought maybe it should come out if it’s coming out of me this way,” she explained. “Maybe it should be shared this way.”

Related: Ariana Grande Posts 'Yes, And?' Behind-the-Scenes Videos and Thanks Fans for Support

Eternal Sunshine is Grande’s first album in three-and-a-half years, and follows 2020’s Positions. Grande told Sang that in the years since releasing Positions, her relationship to music has evolved, thanks in part to her Wicked character Glinda (The first part of the movie is set for release on Nov. 27, while the second part will premiere a year later).

“I kind of healed a lot of parts of myself alongside and through her and it actually helped me heal a lot of my own personal weird stuff that I had with my relationship to music and to being an artist,” she said. “It all happened absolutely how it was meant to be.”

Grande released the album’s first single “Yes, And?” in January, a house-influenced track that finds the star responding to public conversation surrounding her appearance, her divorce from ex-husband Dalton Gomez and her current relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater.

As for touring Eternal Sunshine, the two-time Grammy winner told Sang her plans were “TBD.”

Related: Ariana Grande Announces First New Solo Music in 3 Years with Upcoming Single 'Yes, And?'

“I would love to do shows. I love being onstage, I miss being onstage, I miss my fans so much,” she said. “I had a really hard time emotionally on my last tour but I think that’s because of where I was at. So just like with music, I think I’m really excited to redefine my relationship to shows when I’m ready and see what that looks like.”

She added that she has a “very busy” year coming up with the release of Wicked in November, and that if she did any sort of touring, it would likely be “a littler something.”

“I definitely do have the itch,” she said. “I miss my fans, I miss being onstage. But then again I also am not ready to announce any sort of thing or get people too excited, ‘cause I don’t want to disappoint.”

Following the release of “Yes, And?” Grande put out a remix with Mariah Carey earlier this month, though she also noted she would not be releasing any more singles ahead of the release because she wanted her fans to “experience the album in full this time.”

“I look forward to savoring every second of this new era with you all and I sincerely cannot wait for it to be yours!” it’s going to be (and already is) so special,” she wrote.

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