Wicked's Ariana Grande says Glinda's voice is her "real voice"

5 February 2025, 12:49 | Updated: 6 February 2025, 11:19

Wicked&squot;s Ariana Grande says Glinda&squot;s voice is her "real voice" — Wicked's Ariana Grande says Glinda's voice is her "real voice" . Picture: Saverio Marfia/Getty Images, Universal Pictures

By Sam Prance

"All of it is natural."

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Ariana Grande has responded to people saying her voice has changed and got higher since playing Glinda in Wicked.

If you've been following the Wicked press tour, you might have noticed that Ariana Grande's real-life speaking voice is noticeably different. Fans first picked up on it when Ariana started promoting 'Eternal Sunshine' in 2024 and a clip of her voice fluctuating in an interview with Penn Badgley on PodCrushed in June of that year went viral.

Since then, comments about Ariana's voice have flooded social media and the discourse has amplified since Wicked came out. In the past, Ariana has spoken in a lower register but now her voice is higher and more similar to Glinda's.

Now, Ariana has addressed the conversation about her voice and said the way she speaks now is her "real voice".

Read more: Amanda Seyfried speaks out on Ariana Grande being cast as Glinda in Wicked over her
Read more: Wicked's Ariana Grande reveals she auditioned for Elphaba as well as Glinda

Behind the scenes of Wicked with Ariana Grande

Speaking about her voice on the Smartless podcast, Ariana said: "The thing that I do that perplexes people so much - and it's just so funny because if you're a person who uses their voice, you know about this - is if I have a long day of press or if I have to sing, I'll place [my voice] a little higher. I'll change my vocal placement to kind of preserve."

She then added: "But that is just something that's healthy for the voice. It's just basically pitching your voice up a tiny bit. It's just a normal thing for vocalists. But people are like, ‘That's not her natural voice.’ And I'm like, ‘Well, it is actually, but it's just a little higher. All of it is natural.’”

Ariana ended by saying: "It's so funny because I’ve talked about it a zillion times and people are still like, ‘Where's your real voice?’ And I'm like, ‘Well, they all are.’”

In pitching her voice up, Ariana naturally sounds similar to Glinda but that's still her "real voice".

Speaking to Variety previously, Ariana said that her voice naturally became more similar to Glinda's in the process of playing her. Ariana explained: "Maybe people underestimate how long we spent finding and disappearing into these women. So when certain inflections or mannerisms take time to melt away, sometimes people poke fun."

Ariana added: "But we had a job to do, and we had things to get lost in, because that’s what the piece required.”

Ariana fans will already know she worked closely with a vocal coach to ensure she got Glinda's voice right. On the Zach Sang Show, she teased: "I trained every day to transform my voice, like, even my singing voice. Everything about me, I had to deconstruct to prove to them I could handle taking on this other person."

Reflecting on whether her voice will go back to how it was before, Ariana said: "I think that might stay, Galinda required a lot of vocal work for me. Certain things maybe won’t melt away. Some will."

She added: "I’m really grateful for the pieces that will stay with us forever."

Ariana Grande playing Glinda in Wicked. Picture: Alamy

Ariana previously responded to comments about her voice changing on TikTok in June last year. When people noticed her voice fluctuating in her PodCrushed interview, she wrote: “habit (speaking like this for two years) and also vocal health. I intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing i’m doing."

She then added: "I've always done this Bye."