Ariana Grande Kicks Off Sweetener World Tour With Mac Miller Tribute

Ariana's fans picked up on the subtle tribute before she came on stage.

Ariana Grande paid tribute to her late ex-boyfriend Mac Miller as she launched her Sweetener World Tour on Monday night.

Prior to taking to the stage, Ariana included a track by Mac Miller on her pre-show playlist, catching the attention of fans in the crowd, who were touched by the subtle tribute.

Ariana grande is playing Mac Miller right before her opening song for sweetener tour rn and my heart can’t handle it SO MANY TEARS

— gabi (@gabidaviss) March 19, 2019

Ariana grande had Mac Miller’s music playing while people got into their seats for her concert 😭😭😭😭

— Haley (@HaeKolb) March 19, 2019

Aaaaand they're playing Mac Miller at the Ariana Grande concert

Not emotional no no no not at all

— Maris (@MarissaCitarell) March 19, 2019

they’re playing mac while we wait for ariana

— ariana todayyyyyy (@medicinestan28) March 19, 2019

Mac died last year at the age of 26, following an accidental overdose involving alcohol, cocaine and fentanyl, an opioid used as a pain medication.

He and Ariana dated for two years, eventually splitting in May 2018.

Mac and Ariana at the VMAs in 2016
Mac and Ariana at the VMAs in 2016
Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images

It was initially rumoured that Ariana had covered one of Mac’s songs when it was revealed that she had included a track called Remember on her latest album, Thank U Next.

However, when the album finally dropped in January, Remember had been left off the tracklist.

Mac is name-dropped, along with several of Ariana’s other exes, on the album’s title track, while the song Ghostin discusses how she coped in the immediate aftermath of his death, during which time she was still engaged to comedian Pete Davidson.

Ariana Grande on her Sweetener tour
Ariana Grande on her Sweetener tour
Kevin Mazur via Getty Images

Ghostin was absent from the setlist of the Sweetener tour on its opening night, previously telling a fan that she would perform the emotional song live “if she can get through it”.

She tweeted: “I jus want to have a good time with y’all and like .... make it thru the show lol… Thank u for showing this song so much love. it means a great deal.”

if i can get thru it yea but right now it’s not on the set list. i jus want to have a good time with y’all and like .... make it thru the show lol. love u sm. thank u for showing this song so much love. it means a great deal. #thankunext https://t.co/88QobiegEh

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) February 8, 2019

The Sweetener tour setlist was mostly compiled of tracks from her last two albums, Sweetener and Thank U Next, but also featured cuts from her first three releases like Into You, Be Alright, Break Your Heart Right Back and You’ll Never Know.

Check out more pics from the tour in the gallery below…

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