On Twitter, another fan commented, “Ariana ain’t gotta label herself,” prompting the pop star to respond: “I haven’t before and still don’t feel the need to now”.
Grande isn’t alone. After decades of closeted artists and coded lyrics, a new generation of gender and sexually-fluid pop stars are challenging stereotypes and celebrating their identity through music.
A significant breakthrough came in 2012, when Frank Ocean posted an open letter to Tumblr, describing how he’d fallen for a man when he was 19.
“It was my first love, it changed my life,” he wrote. “There was no escaping, no negotiating with the feeling. No choice.”