Ariana Grande is joining the dialogue surrounding the noticeable difference in the pitch of her voice during the promotional campaign for Wicked in 2024. She’s giving fans a more scientific explanation for the change.
Ariana Grande spent more than two years in preparation to play the role of Glinda in Wicked. The character is a demanding soprano role. To play the character, Grande had to change her voice completely from the sound she normally uses for pop and R&B to a higher and lighter sound.
The Wicked effect
“If you are a vocalist, you know exactly what’s happening. Like, so many people study the way I speak. Sometimes I speak in higher register, and sometimes I speak in lower register. They’re both authentic places where my voice goes. My voice just has a lot of range.” Ariana Grande discussed the change in the pitch of her voice during the promotional campaign for Wicked.
She stated that singing and using her head voice for up to 12 hours a day helped develop new muscle memory. “I think the ghost of Glinda will stay with me forever,” Grande told Variety in a 2025 interview.
Following a TikTok video that went viral showing her voice changing mid-interview on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast, Grande has said that such changes are usually intentional. For a singer, talking with a lower, gravelly voice, especially with a vocal fry quality, puts strain on the vocal cords that a higher voice placement would not.
She has even joked that she talks with a slightly higher voice, akin to a customer service voice, during press days that require a lot of talking before a performance.
Grande has also been quick to defend her authenticity by saying, “They’re both authentic places where my voice goes.” She is a light lyric soprano with a range that spans four octaves. She has said that her voice naturally sits higher than most other singers’ because of her range.
The transformation has worked for her. In late 2025, after her stint with Wicked: For Good, Grande made history by becoming the first artist to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album (Eternal Sunshine) and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the same year.
For Ariana, her voice transformation is not an act; it is an evolution.
