Not only did Ariana Grande kick off her Eternal Sunshine Tour on June 6, she unofficially kicked off the Grammy campaign for her forthcoming album, Petal.
For her first tour in seven years, the singer is looking to capitalize on the success of her previous release, 2026’s Eternal Sunshine, whose hit “We Can’t Be Friends” remains a chart presence on Spotify. But the tour will also help showcase Petal, which doesn’t arrive until July 31. The lead single, “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” released last month, is still near the top of the Global Spotify charts and suggests Petal will have an even stronger launch than Eternal Sunshine (whose lead track was the underperforming “Yes, And?”), which leads to the the big question: Will Grande finally score big with the Grammys? Even though it wasn’t completely blanked, Eternal Sunshine missed the General Field altogether and became Grande’s first album since My Everything to be snubbed in the Best Pop Solo Performance lineup. This time around, though, Grande has one huge advantage: a successful tour.
The Eternal Sunshine Tour comes at a key moment in Ariana Grande’s career. Her recent split with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater could have dominated the public conversation, just like it did back in 2023 when the pair got together, which could have resulted in backlash towards the singer-songwriter. (Slater was married with a child at the time and subsequently left his family for Grande.) However, Grande’s tour has literally taken center stage, with concert reviewers praising her vocals and storytelling. While many of its standout moments have come from performances of signatures cuts like “Into You” and “Dangerous Woman”, the tour has helped Grande’s whole catalog dominate the zeitgeist, including the new single. Yahoo recently reported that her discography saw a 18% spike in general, with the title album growing close to 60%.
Grande will have performed 41 sold-out concerts by the time the tour wraps in London on Sept. 1 — just a month before balloting begins for Grammy nominations — giving her ample opportunity to promote her new work for fans… and Recording Academy voters. Scores of industry folk have already seen the early shows, including Grammy nominees and winners like Flo, Tame Impala, Demi Lovato, Lizzo, and Jennifer Lopez. Even voters who aren’t seeing her live will be exposed to the endlessly viral tour clips.
Touring has long been a useful method of Grammy campaigning, whether intentionally or not. The dominance of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour no doubt helped her win her fourth Album of the Year trophy. Swift also previously sent gift boxes to Grammy voters with invitations to purchase tickets for the Reputation tour back in 2017. The success of Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres Tour preceded that album’s big Grammy nominations haul, including an unexpected Album of the Year nod. Some tours are even good to set narratives in the public conversation; Bad Bunny’s refusal to tour the U.S. due to fear of ICE raids at his show presented the artist in a bolder, more political way, elevating his profile for voters. Obviously, artists don’t tour for the Grammys, but it’s a nice bonus when seeking for ways to assert cultural dominance.
As such, the Eternal Sunshine Tour can do nothing but help Grande’s Grammy aspirations. The singer recently took home her third statuette in the pop field, but has still only achieved General Field recognition with Thank U, Next, which infamously lost across the board. Petal might prove to be the record that helps Grande bloom this time around.
