Ariana Grande Credits Mac Miller for Encouraging Her Musical Identity During Nickelodeon Transition

Ariana Grande shared that Mac Miller pushed her to show her real hair and sing R&B as she left Nickelodeon behind.

"I've never talked about this, but actually Malcolm, whom you might know as Mac, encouraged me to be myself," she shared, according to People. "And that it was OK to kind of shed that character, and embrace my brown hair, and make R&B-influenced pop music and separate and do the brave thing."

Grande recorded her first album, Yours Truly in 2013, around the same time Nickelodeon sitcom Sam & Cat was ending. Miller's words encouraged her to put him on her lead single "The Way."

The couple dated from 2016 to 2018. Work schedules pulled them apart, TMZ reported. Miller died on September 7, 2018, from an accidental overdose.

When he died, a rep close to the performer told People his passing was "devastating and shocking to her." It "had a huge, negative impact on her life" and "made her rethink many things."

Grande honored Miller in 2023 on the 10th anniversary of Yours Truly. The remastered "The Way" music video faded to black, followed by white text: "Feat. Mac Miller."