Hampstead

Ariana Grande lived in the picturesque North London neighborhood of Hampstead while filming Wicked at Sky Studios Elstree between 2022 and 2024. Her stay coincided with the breakdown of her marriage to Dalton Gomez. Despite her personal upheaval, Grande took to the area enthusiastically, enjoying long walks on Hampstead Heath and browsing its shops. This period of reflection and renewal found its way into "Hampstead," recorded for the deluxe edition of her album Eternal Sunshine, Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead.

The track opens with the evocative image of Grande "leaving her heart at a pub in Hampstead." The sentiment captures the emotional disarray of heartbreak and reinvention - albeit with a pleasant pint in hand. There is a lyrical nod to losing her mind "in a good way," suggesting that while the turbulence of her life was undeniable, there were still moments of joy and discovery.

By the summer of 2023, Grande's split from Gomez had become tabloid fodder, made more salacious by reports of her new romance with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, who was still married at the time. This led to a chorus of online condemnation, with some rather harsh accusations thrown in her direction. Grande sings lines on "Hampstead" like "Threw away my reputation but saved us more heartache," suggesting that while the public might have condemned her, she prioritized happiness over public approval.