Ariana Grande cannot cancel any work commitments out of fear she will disappoint her late grandfather.
The Problem singer flew to her home state of Florida to be by her maternal grandfather’s hospital bedside when he began to deteriorate, announcing his passing via Twitter in July, 2014.
Ariana was scheduled to make an appearance on a U.S. morning show in New York, and she wanted to cancel it to remain with him in Florida, but he refused to let her be unprofessional and made her keep her commitments, which is a lesson she will never forget.
“My grandpa always told me I had to do things,” she told Britain’s Style magazine. “I remember when he was very, very sick – he was actually passing away – and I made a commitment to do the Today show in the morning. I was like, ‘Grandpa, I’m staying here with you’. And he said, ‘No, you’re going to go.’ That’s going to haunt me forever. Now I have to do everything.”
Ariana appeared on U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America, not the Today show, the day after her grandpa passed away and she became emotional when presenter Robin Roberts offered her condolences.
Announcing his death, the 22-year-old wrote, “Thank you for your continuous love & light over the past few weeks… we did lose my favorite person to ever exist yesterday, my grandpa…”
“if only y’all knew how amazing he was.. my (heart) hurts so much. It’s beyond broken but I got to hold his hand and watch him find his peace… this is the hardest thing imaginable but I’m so grateful that I got to spend this time with him & my family.”
In July last year (15) she marked the anniversary of his death by sharing a throwback picture on Instagram and telling the crowd on her tour to “make sure you always cherish your family time and don’t ever take them for granted.”
