The artists shared some heady highs and depressing lows over the course of their two-year relationship, from the joys of recording and performing together to the devastation that was the terrorist bombing at Grande's Manchester concert in May 2017.
"We have loved and adored and respected each other since the beginning, since before we even met, just because we were fans of each other's talent," Grande explained to Cosmopolitan in the spring of 2017. "We weren't ready at all, though, to be together. It's just timing. We both needed to experience some things, but the love has been there the whole time."
Love wasn't enough to keep them together, though, and eventually the relationship proved too hard to sustain in light of Miller's fragile hold on sobriety. His arrest following a DUI crash about a week after they broke up in May sent his defenders scurrying to social media to hate on Grande, who eventually was compelled to point out that being in a "toxic relationship" wasn't exactly healthy for her, either, and she wasn't required to stay in one to appease the crowd. At the same time, she called her love for him "unconditional" and stated that she'd always be there for him.
Over the summer, Grande started dating—and then quickly got engaged to—Pete Davidson, and Miller seemed to take it in stride. In August he released Swimming, his fifth studio album, to much acclaim and was looking forward to going on tour. But on Sept. 7, he was found dead in his L.A.-area home of what an autopsy later concluded was an accidental drug overdose—fentanyl, mixed with cocaine and alcohol.
"i really can't wrap my head around it," read some of what Grande posted on Instagram in response to the tragedy. "we talked about this. so many times. i'm so mad, i'm so sad i don't know what to do. you were my dearest friend. for so long. above anything else. i'm so sorry i couldn't fix or take your pain away. i really wanted to. the kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. i hope you're okay now. rest."
It soon became clear that it was not the right time for her to be planning to get married, so she broke it off with Davidson and ultimately memorialized her