The pop star released a new version of her hit single with her late ex.
Ariana Grande is paying tribute to her late ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, with a new live version of their hit collaboration, "The Way."
Ariana released a 10th Anniversary Edition of her debut album, Yours Truly, and it includes a new tribute to Mac and features six new versions of songs from the original album all recorded live in London with a live orchestra.
The songs include "Honeymoon Avenue," "Daydreamin," "Baby I," "Tattooed Heart,' "Right Here (feat. Big Sean)" and "The Way (feat. Mac Miller)," and they've now been added to the original album.
Ariana paid tribute to Mac in the audio video for "The Way (feat. Mac Miller) - Live from London." When the song ends, the screen fades to black with just the words "Feat. Mac Miller" onscreen.
Ariana plans on releasing videos for the six new versions -- starting with two of the set’s core tracks, "Honeymoon Avenue" and "Daydreamin."
The 2013 track, "The Way," was Ariana's first to land on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at No. 10 on the chart. The former couple went on to produce more collaborations, with Mac and Ariana teaming up for hits, "Baby It's Cold Outside," "Into You," "Congratulations," "My Favorite Part," "I Can See" and "Talk to Me."
Ariana -- who dated the "Self Care" rapper from 2016 to 2018 -- publicly mourned Mac, and sang about him on various tracks, including "Thank U, Next" and "Ghostin" from her Thank U, Next album, and "Just Like Magic" from her Positions album.
"I adored you from the day i met you when i was nineteen and i always will. i can't believe you aren't here anymore. i really can't wrap my head around it. we talked about this. so many times. i'm so mad, i'm so sad i don’t know what to do. you were my dearest friend. for so long. above anything else. i'm so sorry i couldn't fix or take your pain away. i really wanted to. the kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. i hope you're okay now. rest," Ariana wrote in an Instagram post after Mac's death in 2018, following an accidental overdose.
She's also reflected on her time with the late rapper in the years since his death. In a 2020 interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Ariana recalled her ex-boyfriend's dedication to his art.
"I think that nothing mattered more to him than music, ever. And he was the kind of person who woke up and rolled into the studio, tumbled out of bed, into the studio next door. Nothing was more important," the 30-year-old singer said at the time. "Talk about losing track of time and forgetting to eat, [having to] remind yourself to take care of yourself and be a person. He was a person who gave literally every single second of his thought and time and life to his music."
"I think that's so evident in what he's left us with and just how many incredible and different bodies of work, everything from Blue Slide Park, K.I.D.S, to all the way through Divine Feminine, to Swimming, to Circles, to everything in between," she continued of Mac's past albums, the last of which was released posthumously in January 2020. "It's just such a beautiful gift, I think, that he kind of touched the world with. I think the thing he'd want most is for us to just appreciate it and not forget about it."
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