Ariana Grande has wrapped her sold out Eternal Sunshine Tour, closing a 10 night residency at London’s The O2 on Tuesday and bringing 41 shows across 10 cities to a triumphant end.
Promoted by Live Nation, the run sold more than 630,000 tickets, with an average of 15,000 fans at each date. It was her first global tour in more than seven years, and the London finale completed what USA Today called “a well earned victory lap” and “a welcome homecoming.”
The Times, Telegraph, Metro, Rolling Stone UK, Attitude and The London Standard all handed the show five stars. Billboard described “an absolutely astonishing vocal showcase,” the BBC said her vocal riffs were “so tremendously colossal they should be registered as the eighth wonder of the world,” and NME hailed her as a pop conceptualist with “showstopping vocals.”
The tour opened in London after her eighth album petal hit No.1 on the UK Official Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Released on 31 July, the record was folded into the set as the run went on, with surprise first performances of ‘freak’, ‘kiss me’, ‘bad thing (bunny hop)’, ‘like i do’ and ‘warning signs’.
Speaking after the final O2 show, Grande told the crowd: “I just wanted to say, thank you so much. This has been an extraordinary experience. Thank you for 10 beautiful London shows and for 41 incredible Eternal Sunshine tour shows. This has been one of the most beautiful extraordinary experiences of my life and I just wanted to express my gratitude without sobbing completely. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It has been so special. I’ll cherish this experience always. I have the best fans in the entire world and I always have. I love your outfits, I love your faces, I love seeing you. Thank you for all of your effort and continuing to make this so special. I have loved every minute of this with you all and I just wanted to make sure I express how grateful I am. Thank you and I love you so much.”
The London run also delivered one of the tour’s biggest on stage moments, as Cynthia Erivo joined Grande for a Wicked reunion of ‘For Good’ plus ‘Happy Days/Get Happy’. In New York, Ty Dolla $ign appeared for ‘Safety Net’. Fan traditions became part of the show too, including a nightly “sit in silence” challenge during the encore of ‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’, crowds falling quiet as Grande remixed and looped her own voice live, and audiences arriving dressed as different eras from her career.
The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation used the tour to spotlight and support 30 organisations across nine markets, with a focus on trans and LGBTQ+ rights, mental health access and emergency support. UK partners were Micro Rainbow, Trans Solidarity Alliance, The Proud Trust, Save The Children UK, Choose Love and Consortium LGBT. In North America the foundation worked with HeadCount and Apathy Is Boring on voter engagement at shows, partnered with Backline to support Grande’s crew, band and dancers, and hosted volunteer events in Los Angeles, New York City and London.
The tour also doubled as a live extension of Grande’s r.e.m. beauty brand. The Fembot Fatale palette worn on stage repeatedly sold out, while on stage glam touch ups by makeup artist Michael Anthony and hairstylist Alyx Liu helped drive more than 260 million tour related video views on Instagram and TikTok. US pop ups welcomed nearly 15,000 guests across the 28 date American run, more than 20,000 people visited an 18 day UK residency pop up, and more than 450 influencer community members were hosted in branded suites across 31 shows, generating over 3,000 pieces of social content. The brand’s viral bear bag charm sold out within the first two cities, Chicago dates debuted Ulta Beauty’s new mobile point of sale system, and guests there were given a first look at Treble Maker 3-in-1 Mascara.
Each city stretched the show beyond the arena. New York’s mini residency brought branded subway takeovers, an r.e.m. beauty experience at the venue, a SoHo merchandise pop up and a merch truck outside the Brooklyn arena, while London’s O2 run added temporary tattoo stations, beauty touchpoints and merchandise experiences, with further week of show pop ups for vinyl, merch, photo booths and letter walls.
Grande, a three time Grammy winner with eight consecutive platinum albums and more than 125 billion streams worldwide, returned to the road after starring as Glinda in the Wicked films and following 2024’s eternal sunshine, still the longest running No.1 album of her career.
Image credits: Julian Dakdouk
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