How Normani Convinced Ariana Grande To Ditch Her Famous Ponytail

Ariana Grande shot to pop stardom after her first big gig as Cat on Nickelodeon's Victorious and Sam & Cat. With five studio albums, the singer has topped the charts with pop singles like "thank u next" and the Justin Bieber duet, "Stuck with U." Over the years, the star developed an unlikely signature part of her image: her ponytail.

In an interview with The Fader in 2018, Grande acknowledged her famous 'do as part of her. "The pony has also gone through an evolution, and I'm proud of that," said the "7 Rings" singer. "Old pony? I don't know if she's that girl. But new pony? I like her. I mean, it's like a Victoria Secret angel without angel wings. It's still her without them, but when she's with them it's like, Ohh, I get it, she's an angel."

Grande's ponytail wasn't always just a style for the artist. In a 2014 Facebook post, the "Sweetener" singer shared with fans that for a while, it was her only option, per E! News. "I had to bleach my hair and dye it red every other week for the first 4 years of playing Cat," Grande explained. "As one would assume, that completely destroyed my hair. I wear it in a ponytail because my actual hair is so broken that it looks absolutely ratchet and absurd when I let it down."

Once Grande could finally let her hair down, it was obviously a huge deal — and it's all thanks to former Fifth Harmony singer Normani.

Girl group member turned solo artist Normani revealed in an interview with Vogue that she and fellow pop singer Ariana Grande exchanged advice with each other during Grande's Sweetener Tour in 2019. The former Fifth Harmony member, who opened for Grande's tour, encouraged her to wear her hair down for a few shows.

Although fans adored Grande's new middle part, straight hair look, it didn't last long. After the "Dangerous Woman" obliged to the requests, she took to Twitter to share how grateful she was to have her high ponytail back. "My god going back to a high pony after a few days of not wearing a high pony is ........ a remarkable feeling," wrote Grande, according to Glamour. "I'm just ....... supposed to have a high pony u kno ? some things are just meant to be and this is jus one of those things."

In fact, the ponytail is so meant to be that Grande can no longer feel the pain it causes. Replying to a fan on Twitter who asked if the high ponies ever hurt her head, the pop singer joked, "nah I can't feel anymore the nerves in my head said f**k u a good year or two ago we're good."