Ariana Grande was announced as one of the performers at the 2020 Grammys, and along with a new commercial that prominently features her and “7 Rings,” the singer has now teased what she’ll be performing when the big night comes. A photo of sheet music shared on Instagram and Twitter with a single black heart emoji as the caption has fans convinced that Grande will be singing “Imagine,” the first track off her 2019 album Thank U, Next.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7j2eqKlFhF/
Not only is the song a pretty straightforward tribute to her late ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, whose first body of posthumous work, Circles was just released, but it includes some insane high notes that are extremely difficult to deliver live. Grande has performed it a couple of times on television, but it was — as far as I can tell — entirely absent from her Sweetener tour setlist.
According to fans soundings off in the comments, the key (A-flat major, in my own research) and time signatures indicates this is probably “Imagine,” and given Miller’s birthday was January 19th, it’s a fitting time to commemorate both his legacy and the impact that grieving his loss had on Grande’s last two records. “Imagine” is in A-flat, and since the sheet music also shows clarinet, horn, and flute parts, it suggests Grande will be performing it with a full orchestra, which would definitely suit the song’s sweeping, somber mood.
The sheet music post comes right after another video the singer shared of the late Miller on what would’ve been his 28th birthday. Just a home video of him working on a song:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7hsoEuFwZB/
Sunday will bring confirmation, until then we can only speculate.
