Could fans finally be getting the Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande collab they’ve been waiting for? While Tay is debuting the “Patient Zero” music video at the VMAs this Sunday, Swifties are convinced she’s got more up her Louis V sleeves. She’s dropping three other new songs, “Pink Clouding,” “Babylon,” and “Cleveland!” on her deluxe album, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. And longtime Tayriana fans think “Pink Clouding” might feature Ari.
Of course, this is only just a rumor and hasn’t been confirmed or denied—but the theories aren’t entirely far-fetched. Let’s go through all of them, because the clues are definitely clue-ing!
They’re signed to the same label
For starters, Tay and Ari are both signed to Republic Records, which could increase the possibility of a collab. Ari also hopped on her monster hit, “Bang Bang,” with labelmates Jessie J and Nicki Minaj back in 2014.
They both recently worked with Max Martin
Max Martin works with a ton of pop artists, but there’s been a bit of Taylor and Ariana overlap from 2024 to now. He not only produced Ari’s album, eternal sunshine, but her latest record, petal, as well as Taylor’s TLOAS.
Ariana has a perfume called “Pink Cloud”
‘Nuff said.
Taylor and Ari have maintained a respectful relationship
The pair haven’t been publicly seen since they both performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2014, but they maintain a respectful relationship in the public eye.
Though Ari collaborated with Charli xcx (who’s rumored to be feuding with Taylor) in 2024, she still showed love for the “Opalite” singer at the time. When she found out they were tied for the most songs to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the Wicked press tour, she immediately clapped and said, “Good company!”
Taylor subtly referenced an Ariana song during a recent interview
During her interview for the Grammy Museum’s The Icon Sessions last month, Taylor said, “As a collaborator, my favorite people to be in the room with are ‘yes, and’ people.” Fans are convinced the potential hint was hiding in plain sight, since Ari has a track called “yes, and.”
r.e.m. beauty seemingly dropped an Easter egg ahead of Taylor’s deluxe album announcement
On September 24, Ari and her brand, r.e.m. beauty, shared a post promoting her ballet-inspired holiday collection captioned, “your everyday encore.” Perhaps this is a nod to TLOAS: The Last Encore?
The “petal” lyric video including “OOO”
On September 22, Taylor broke the internet with her updated Instagram bio: “And, baby, that’s sh0w business f0r y0u.” This led fans to investigate with “000” theories, and some noticed that Ariana’s “petal” lyric video includes “OOO!” on the pavement.
It’s important to note that the song’s official lyrics on Genius read “I hear them all say, ‘Ooh'” instead of “OOO!”
They’re not technically zeros, but close enough to start clowning!
Ariana’s official fan account reposted an edit using a Taylor song
Ariana’s official fan account, Team Ariana (think her version of Taylor Nation), shared fan-created edits on their Instagram feed. In slide 9, they included one using Tay’s song with Lana Del Rey, “Snow on the Beach.” Interesting!!
This isn’t the first time they’re rumored to collab
Back in 2019, Ariana was reportedly registered as a feature on Taylor’s Lover track “Afterglow” on ASCAP & BMI, leading fans to theorize that it was a legit collab. It was never confirmed or denied, but…guess we’ll have to see what happens when The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore drops tomorrow!
You Might Also Like
Leave a Reply