How Ariana Grande's Yours Truly Deluxe Edition Honors Late Ex-Boyfriend Mac Miller

Ariana Grande subtly paid tribute to late ex Mac Miller—who died from an accidental overdose in 2018—when she released an updated version of their Yours Truly collab "The Way."

By Gabrielle Chung Aug 25, 2023 11:20 PMTags
Watch: Why Ariana Grande's Fans Are CONVINCED Her Makeup Honors Mac Miller

Ariana Grande is putting her heart up in the reissue of her 2013 album Yours Truly.

The singer subtly honored her late ex-boyfriend Mac Miller, who she worked with on the breakout single "The Way," when she dropped an updated version of the record on Aug. 25.

At the end of a YouTube video for their remastered collab, the visuals fade to black while the words "Feat. Mac Miller" written in white remained on screen. On the track itself, an orchestral string section was added over Mac's second rap verse.

The revamp comes a decade after the release of Your Truly, Ariana's debut studio album.

"Happy ten year anniversary to a project that changed my life," she wrote on Instagram upon its re-release. "thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening and for growing with me every step of the way."

In addition to a new version of "The Way," the deluxe edition of Yours Truly includes live performances of "Baby I," "Right There," "Honeymoon Avenue," "Daydreamin" and "Tattooed Heart." To commemorate the occasion, Ariana promised fans a "celebration program" on her social media accounts, including a live performance video of "The Way" along with "some behind the scenes stuff we found" dropping on Aug. 30. 

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Mac Miller: Life in Pictures

"I hope you enjoy!" the 30-year-old added. "yours truly, ariana."

After working with Mac—born Malcolm McCormick—on their song, Ariana dated him from 2016 to 2018. They broke up months before the rapper died from an accidental overdose in September 2018 at the age of 26.

GC Images

"It's pretty all-consuming," she told Vogue in 2019 of her heartbreaking reaction to Mac's death. "By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f--k. He was the best person ever, and he didn't deserve the demons he had. I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming...less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away."

Describing herself "the luckiest girl in the world, and the unluckiest, for sure," the pop star likened her grief to "walking this fine line between healing myself and not letting the things that I've gone through be picked at before I'm ready."

"I'm a person who's been through a lot and doesn't know what to say about any of it to myself, let alone the world," she explained. "I see myself onstage as this perfectly polished, great-at-my-job entertainer, and then in situations like this, I'm just this little basket-case puddle of figuring it out."

Kevin Mazur/One Love Manchester/Getty Images for One Love Manchester

Despite her internal struggle, Ariana has continued keep Mac's memory close to her heart in recent years. She included a loving namedrop to the late star in 2019's "Thank U, Next," and requested to play his songs "What's the Use?" and "Blue World" during a 2020 appearance on the Apple Music 1 radio station.

"Nothing mattered more to him than music ever," she said at the time. "It's just such a beautiful gift that he kind of touched the world with, and I think the thing he'd want most is for us to just appreciate it and not forget about it."

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