This Is Why Ariana Grande Refused To Play ‘Wicked’ Song ‘Popular’

Ariana Grande didn’t want to tone it down Bad’favorite original song Popular.

Grande rejected the idea of ​​doing a hip hop cover of Popular, which was suggested by composer Stephen Schwartz, who also wrote the score for the original Broadway musical.

Schwartz said Los Angeles Times: “In the spirit of being open to new things for the film, my music team and I thought, let’s refresh the beat. Let’s maybe, I don’t know, hip hop it a little bit. Ariana said, “Absolutely not, don’t. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.”

However, the Side by side The hitmaker agreed to another change suggested by the composer after making sure the change was in line with Glinda’s character.

He said: “I had this idea for a new vocal ending. Ariana was a little hesitant about it, but I told her that if I had thought of it for the original show, that’s how it would be. Once she was assured that this new piece of music was coming out of her character, she was on board.”

Filmmaker Alice Brooks also shed light on its creation Popular and Defying Gravitysaying, “’Popular’ is the first song we shot. The challenge was that we wanted this huge, big number, but we’re in this very tight, intimate dormitory — our smallest set by far.”

“One night, I woke up suddenly and thought that the sun must always rise for Glinda and set for Elphaba. So “Defying Gravity” is a long sunset and “Popular” is a long sunrise. We put a skylight on the roof of the dome of the dormitory so that the sun is our foreground.”

Jon M. Chu’s Bad The first part, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo is a big hit. It debuted to $114 million domestically and $164.2 million worldwide for Universal Pictures, per The Guardian.