Kevin Mazur/WireImageLast month, Ariana Grande shocked her fans by — gasp — performing a show on her Sweetener tour with her hair down, and not up in her signature high ponytail. But now we’ve learned who convinced Ari to let it all hang out: her opening act.
Vogue reports that it was none other than Normani who advised Ariana to wear her hair down during a few tour stops. That revelation came after a discussion with the singer about beauty advice that Ariana and Normani exchanged while on tour. Normani told Ari to take out her pony, while Ari suggested that Normani try out a Korean charcoal face mask that removes blackheads.
“It hurt like hell taking it off, but it worked,” she says.
As for what she hoped to get out of her coveted opening slot on the Sweetener tour, Normani tells Vogue, “I’m a new artist. But I have the wisdom of a seasoned artist because I’ve been doing it for so long.”
“This really is the first time that people are kind of getting a sense of who Normani is, so it was really important for me to just ask myself the questions, ‘What do you want? What do you want people to take away after they see your performance?’”
Normani is also continue to work on her debut album, which still doesn’t have a release date. She’s also enjoying the success of her duet with Sam Smith, “Dancing with a Stranger.”
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.