Ariana Grande was sick with bronchitis for four months of her ‘Sweetener World Tour’.
The ‘Thank U, Next’ hitmaker embarked on the extensive global jaunt in 2019, and has now revealed she was suffering from a nasty bout of the condition – which can cause a persistent cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, a low fever, and chest tightness – for almost half the 10-month run.
Speaking on the Backstage Pass with Eric Vetro podcast, she said: “I was sick for 4 out of 10 months on the ‘Sweetener’ tour, thankfully I only had to cancel one show or two…”
The 28-year-old singer played to over 1.3 million people across 97 concerts and had cameras follow her backstage as well as capture the performances of her biggest hits, such as ‘7 Rings’, ‘Side to Side’ and ‘No Tears Left to Cry’.
And in December 2020, the pop megastar released the tour film, ‘excuse me, i love you’, as a “love letter” to her fans.
With a runtime of 1 hour 37 minutes, the Netflix flick captures some of the highlights of the tour.
Announcing the film on Instagram at the time, Ariana wrote: “dec 21st, a year after closing, the sweetener world tour is coming home to u @netflix @netflixfilm releasing this as a love letter to u all, in celebration of all that we’ve shared over the past few years. i know this project only captures some of one tour (out of all the other hundreds of shows and moments we have shared over the past six or seven years… jesus lol) but i just wanted to thank u all for showing me more in this lifetime already than i ever dreamed of. making music and doing all of this has been all i’ve known or fully given myself to consistently for a very long time now. although my heart is looking forward to a change of pace, i wanted to express again just how eternally thankful i am.
i’ve learned, seen and felt so much. it’s been such an honor to share so much of this life with u. “excuse me, i love you” dec 21. trailer tomorrow. (sic)”