Grande's sweet Sweetener tour
Pop superstar Ariana Grande announces sweet Houston show
Some sugary news for pop fans: Ariana Grande's Sweetener World Tour is coming to the Lone Star State.
The singer recently announced the North American leg of the tour featuring three Texas dates in May 2019. Grande will visit Houston on on May 19 at Toyota Center, after a San Antonio appearance at AT&T Center on May 17. Her Texas trip ends at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on May 21. So far, an astronomical 42 dates are on the books, starting with a tour opener in Albany, New York on March 18 of next year.
Grande, a Mariah Carey disciple, is promoting her new, chart-topping album, Sweetener, which garnered critical and commercial acclaim, reaching the top of the Billboard charts when released in August. It's her fourth album to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard charts, with its first two singles, "No Tears Left to Cry," and "God is a Woman" reaching the Top 10 of the Hot 100 chart.
Record sales aside, Grande's popularity is at an all-time high. She was the focal point of the tragic bombing at her Manchester show on May 22, 2017, in which 22 concert attendees died. The following One Love benefit concert a few weeks later catapulted her into an already bright spotlight, with her sharing the stage with Katy Perry, Coldplay, and former Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher. She pays tribute to the victims on Sweetener track, "Get Well Soon."
Grande has had an especially tough year when it comes to her romantic life. She recently broke off her high profile engagement to Saturday Night Live actor and stand-up comedian Pete Davidson (who is also name-checked on Sweetener) and also had to deal with the tabloid fallout of the overdose death of ex-beau Mac Miller. Even her new pet pig has been racking up the social media views.
She was also the center of controversy with her appearance at the funeral for the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, when a bishop officiating the ceremony was accused of groping Grande following a performance in Franklin's honor.
It's safe to say that Grande is now on the Kardashian scale of fandom, which makes all the sense in the world why her Sweetener tour will no doubt be one of 2019's biggest. Pre-sales for the Texas shows begin on Thursday, November 1 for American Express card members with general sales starting on Monday, November 5, via Ticketmaster.
