On Saturday night (June 6) in Oakland, Calif., nearly 20,000 fans learned that good things really do come to those who wait.
The evening kicked off Ariana Grande’s long-awaited, highly-anticipated return to touring after a seven year hiatus. Grande last traveled the globe in 2019 on her Sweetener World Tour that spanned 100 shows. The trek was the biggest of her career at the time, with a gross of $146 million and 1.3 million tickets sold according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Since then, Grande has released not just one album but two — with a third on the way. (Petal arrives July 31, amid the tour.) So, naturally, when she announced her Eternal Sunshine Tour last August, excitement — and demand — was at an all-time high. Especially considering that this outing is significantly scaled back, by comparison, spanning just 41 dates across a limited number of cities.
Since 2019, Grande released Positions in 2020 and Eternal Sunshine in 2024, both of which were Grammy nominated for best pop vocal album. She famously starred in Wicked and Wicked: For Good as Glinda, a role for which she was Oscar nominated. And still to come, in addition to releasing a new album this summer, she will appear in the forthcoming Focker-In-Law and in a West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George. And those are just the things we know about.
Given Grande’s schedule and expanding stardom, seeing her back on stage felt more special than ever. And not only because, as one user on X put it, she didn’t have to tour, but because despite the outing’s namesake, this won’t last forever.
In fact, Ari even teased this could be her last tour for some time, telling Amy Poehler on the Good Hang podcast in November, “I don’t want to say anything definitive. I do know that I’m very excited to do this small tour, but I think it might not happen again for a long, long, long, long, long time. I’m going to give it my all and it’s going to be beautiful. I think that’s why I’m doing it because I’m like, ‘One last hurrah!’”
And whether that holds true, night one had the same energy as the last first day of school. Grande was equal parts composed and silly, dangerous and delicate, confident and contemplative — a vibrant spectrum of being that not only comes from experience, but from embracing that experience.
And that’s exactly what Eternal Sunshine celebrates: Ariana in all her forms. Past, present and future. So even if her tour can’t last forever, its message surely will — because in the end, what’s more eternally radiant than loving exactly where you are because you’re proud of where you’ve been? And perhaps even more excited for where you’re going.
Below, find the five best moments from Grande’s opening night of her Eternal Sunshine Tour.
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