Ariana Grande wrote multiple versions of “Thank U, Next,” including one where she marries Pete Davidson
Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next” has become an instant anthem for those going through breakups all over the world. But the song almost wasn’t about moving on to the next person so quickly. In fact, Grande revealed that an entirely different version of “Thank U, Next” would have dropped if she had married her ex Pete Davidson.
Grande appeared on the February 9th episode of The Zach Sang Show and talked about her latest album, Thank U, Next, and its titular single. The singer said that because things were rocky with Davidson at the time she wrote “Thank U, Next,” she actually came up with several different versions of the song depending on where life might take her.
For those who need a reminder, Grande “thanks” her exes—Sean, Ricky, Malcom, and Pete—in the song. But at first, she wasn’t sure if name-dropping was such a good idea. So, she recorded another version of “Thank U, Next” without the names in an effort to be “protective.” And then, another version came along as a result of Grande’s relationship with Davidson.
"In my relationship [with Pete] at the time, things were like, up and down and on and off, and so I didn't know what was going to happen. And then we got back together, so I had to make a different version of it. And then we broke up again, so we ended up going with that verse," Grande told Sang. She continued: "There's a version where I was getting married, there's a version where I'm not getting married, there's a version with nothing—we're not talking about anything. But we all knew that the first version was gonna be the version we ultimately went with."
Check out the entire interview below.
“I just wanted to cover all the bases,” Grande concluded.
We love “Thank U, Next” as we know it, but we can’t help but wonder what the other versions sound like. Maybe one day, she’ll play them for us.
