Sweetener World Tour

Sweetener World Tour
General information
Associated album	Sweetener Thank U, Next
Start date	March 18, 2019
End date	December 22, 2019
Legs	3
Shows	71 in North America 30 in Europe 101 in total
Opening acts	Ella Mai Normani Social House
Tours Chronology
The Sweetener Sessions
Sweetener World Tour
Rift Tour

The Sweetener World Tour (commonly abbreviated as "SWT", briefly referred to as the Sweetener/thank u, next Tour) was the fourth concert tour and third arena tour by American singer Ariana Grande in support of her fourth and fifth studio albums, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019). Led by Live Nation Entertainment, the tour was officially announced on October 25, 2018. It began on March 18, 2019, at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, and concluded on December 22, 2019, in Inglewood, California at The Forum, visiting cities in North America and Europe throughout 101 dates. Frequent collaborators and backup dancers of Grande, Brian and Scott Nicholson, served as creative directors, and LeRoy Bennett was enlisted as production designer.

Multiple shows throughout the first and second legs of the tour were recorded for the live concert tour album, K Bye For Now (SWT Live). It was released on December 23, 2019, following the final show of the tour in Inglewood, California on December 22, 2019. A concert film documenting behind-the-scenes footage, as well as select performances of the tour, entitled Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You, was released on Netflix on December 21, 2020, one day prior to the one year anniversary of the final show.

Background

On May 6, 2018, Grande hinted at a tour for her then-upcoming fourth studio album Sweetener via her official Twitter account. Three months later, she announced that there were plans for a tour, stating that her team were "working on it all now". Grande embarked on a promotional concert tour for Sweetener, the Sweetener Sessions, which began on August 20, 2018, in New York City and ended on September 4, 2018, in London, United Kingdom. Grande announced the title of the tour as the "Sweetener World Tour" on October 24, 2018, announcing its North American dates a day later.

The first leg of the tour had 50 shows across North America and visited 45 cities, beginning on March 18, 2019, in Albany, and concluding on August 4, 2019, at Lollapalooza. On November 5, 2018, tickets were opened to the general public, and Grande announced Normani and Social House as her opening acts. On December 10, 2018, due to popular demand, second shows were added in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Brooklyn, New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, and Toronto. On December 14, 2018, Grande announced the European dates for the tour. A special show was being planned in Manchester. The second leg of the tour had 30 shows and visited 19 cities across Europe, beginning on August 17, 2019, in London and concluding on October 16, 2019, in London. On March 5, 2019, Grande announced that Ella Mai would be the opening act for the European leg of the tour.

On January 14, 2019, the shows in Omaha and Raleigh were cancelled due to Grande headlining the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 14 and April 21, 2019, and a new show was added in Las Vegas. On May 28, 2019, the shows in Tampa and Orlando were cancelled and rescheduled due to illness. On June 11, 2019, due to popular demand, additional shows were added in London. On August 9, 2019, the first show in Hamburg and the show in Prague were rescheduled, and the show in Kraków was cancelled.

Grande with the entire Sweetener World Tour Crew on December 19, 2019

On June 20, 2019, Grande announced another North American leg of the tour. The third leg of the tour visited 18 cities and had 20 shows across the United States, including the rescheduled Tampa and Orlando shows, beginning on November 9, 2019, in Uniondale and concluding on December 22, 2019, in Inglewood.

Grande announced she would be partnering with nonprofit voter registration group HeadCount to register new voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election in March via Instagram. She encouraged fans to "use your voice and get your 'thank u, next gen' sticker." In July, it was reported that HeadCount registered twice as many voters in partnership with Grande than any other tour over the last three years and that the Sweetener World Tour was the most successful artist tour for voter registration HeadCount has seen since 2008. In December, it was announced that the tour broke the organization's all-time record, with 33,381 voter registrations and actions.

Trivia

• "Imagine", “Let Me Love You”, "Blazed”, and "Ghostin" were removed from the setlist.
  • "Let Me Love You" and "Blazed were seen in a video from Grande's Instagram story with Brian Nicholson and Scott Nicholson choosing songs for the setlist.
  • "Ghostin"" was likely removed due to Grande being unable to listen to the song without getting emotional.
• It was later learned that Ariana had angina while on tour. While it it didn't impact her vocals too harshly, she still eventually had to cancel a few shows.
  • Grande also had bronchitis during the majority of the tour.
• This is Grande's only world tour not to have any shows in Asia and Latin America.
• This is Grande's longest tour, spanning over 9 months.
• This is Grande's most successful tour, earning over $146.6 million dollars ($167.8 million in 2022 dollars).
• Various celebrities, including Harry Styles, Millie Bobby Brown, Shangela, Billie Eilish, Jungkook, and Justin Bieber, attended the tour.
• In total, more than 1.3M tickets were sold.
• The tour broke HeadCount's all-time registration record, with 33,381 voter registrations.

Stage design

The stage of the Sweetener World Tour is by far Grande's most innovative and unique stage design. The stage is inspired by astrology as the entire concept of the stage is around a giant diorama of the moon hanging from the ceiling. Similarly to the Dangerous Woman Tour (2017), projection was used for the visuals, lighting the entirely of the white stage, creating illusions of water flowing down the stage, for example. The main screen is a rounded rectangle with a half sphere in the middle. The central sphere featured visuals and lighting effects behind it. The catwalk was reimagined as a U-shape with two pits and a central B stage that Grande accesses to perform under the inflatable moon suspended from the ceiling. The stage also features a central lift through which Grande opens the show with a recreation of The Last Supper performing "God is a woman". The lift is also used for the pink "7 rings" car. During the song, Grande and her dancers would spraypaint the car, usually writing the name of the current city they are in on it. They would also throw custom-made pink dollar bills, similar to the "greedy dollars" from the DWT into the crowd.

Live album

Main article: K Bye For Now (SWT Live)

A live album documenting the first and second legs of the tour entitled k bye for now (swt live) was released on December 23, 2019. All of its tracks were produced by Grande and Natural. The album reached number 79 on the Billboard 200. On June 12, 2021, CD and vinyl versions of the album were released for Record Store Day.

Opening Acts

• Social House
• Normani
• Ella Mai

	Opening Act: Social House
1.	"At Least We Can Say That We Tried"
2.	"Love Me Back"
3.	"Why You Always Got to Start Something"
4.	"Tropical Rain"
5.	"Magic in the Hamptons"
6.	"Haunt You"

	Opening Act: Normani
	"Band Instrumental"	Introduction
1.	"Checklist"
2.	"Waves"
3.	"One in a Million"	Aaliyah cover
4.	"Diamonds"	Rihanna covers
	"We Found Love"
	"Run This Town"
	"All In My Head (Flex)"	Interlude (played from tape; Fifth Harmony songs)
	"He Like That"
	"Down"
5.	"Work from Home"	Fifth Harmony songs
	"Worth It"
	"BO$$"
	"Going Bad"	Dancers Interlude (played from tape)
	"Lose Control"
	"1 Thing"
	"I'm a Slave 4 U"
	"Freakum Dress"
6.	"Dancing with a Stranger"
7.	"Love Lies"

	Opening Act: Ella Mai
1.	"Love Me Like That (Champion Love)"
2.	"Cheap Shot"
3.	"Shot Clock"
4.	"Put It All On Me"
5.	"10,000 Hours"
6.	"Boo'd Up"
7.	"Naked"
8.	"Trip"

Setlist

• Leg 1
• Leg 2
• Leg 3

	Act 1
1.	"Raindrops (An Angel Cried)"	Opener
2.	"God Is A Woman"
3.	"Bad Idea"
4.	"Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored"
	Act 2
	"Childhood"	Interlude (played from tape)
5.	"R.E.M." (Shortened)
6.	"Be Alright"
7.	"Sweetener"
8.	"Successful"
9.	"Side To Side"
10.	"Bloodline"
11.	"7 Rings"
	Act 3
	"Close To You" (Frank Ocean cover)	Interlude (played from tape)
12.	"Love Me Harder" (Shortened)
13.	"Breathin"
14.	"Needy"
15.	"Fake Smile"
16.	"Make Up"
17.	"Right There"(Shortened)
18.	"You'll Never Know" (Shortened)
19.	"Break Your Heart Right Back" (Shortened)
20.	"NASA"
21.	"Goodnight N Go"	Interchangeable
	"Get Well Soon" (Shortened)
	Act 4
	"In My Head"	Interlude (played from tape)
22.	"Everytime" (Shortened)
23.	"The Light Is Coming" (Shortened)
24.	"Into You" (Shortened)
	Act 5
	"My Heart Belongs To Daddy" (Marilyn Monroe cover)	Interlude (played from tape)
25.	"Dangerous Woman"
26.	"Break Free" (Shortened)
27.	"No Tears Left To Cry"	Main Set Closer
	Encore
	"Thank U, Next Interlude"	Interlude (played from tape)
28.	"Thank U, Next" (With Extended Outro)	Show Closer

	Act 1
1.	"Raindrops (An Angel Cried)"	Opener
2.	"God Is A Woman"
3.	"Bad Idea"
4.	"Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored"
	Act 2
	"Childhood"	Interlude (played from tape)
5.	"R.E.M." (Shortened)
6.	"Be Alright"
7.	"Sweetener"
8.	"Successful"
9.	"Side To Side" (with extended outro)
10.	"7 Rings"
	Act 3
	"Close To You" (Frank Ocean cover)	Interchangeable interludes (played from tape)
	"Adore"
11.	"Love Me Harder" (Shortened)
12.	"Breathin"
13.	"Needy"
14.	"Fake Smile"
15.	"Make Up"
16.	"Right There" (Shortened)
17.	"You'll Never Know" (Shortened)
18.	"Break Your Heart Right Back" (Shortened)
19.	"NASA"
20.	"Only 1" (Shortened)	Interchangeable
	"Tattooed Heart" (with extended outro)
	Act 4
	"In My Head"	Interlude (played from tape)
21.	"Everytime" (Shortened)
22.	"The Light Is Coming" (Shortened)
23.	"Into You" (Shortened)
	Act 5
	"My Heart Belongs To Daddy" (Marilyn Monroe cover)	Interlude (played from tape)
24.	"Dangerous Woman"
25.	"Break Free" (Shortened)
26.	"No Tears Left To Cry"	Main Set Closer
	Encore
	"Thank U, Next Interlude"	Interlude (played from tape)
27.	"Thank U, Next" (with extended outro)	Show Closer

	Act 1
1.	"Raindrops (An Angel Cried)"	Opener
2.	"God Is A Woman"
3.	"Bad Idea"
4.	"Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored"
	Act 2
	"Childhood"	Interlude (played from tape)
5.	"R.E.M." (Shortened)
6.	"Be Alright"
7.	"Sweetener"
8.	"Successful"
9.	"Side To Side" (with extended outro)
10.	"7 Rings"
	Act 3
	"Close To You" (Frank Ocean cover)	Interchangeable interludes (played from tape)
	"Adore"
11.	"Breathin"
12.	"Needy"
13.	"Fake Smile"
14.	"Make Up"
15.	"December"
	"True Love"
	"Wit It This Christmas"
	"Santa Tell Me"
16.	"NASA"
17.	"Honeymoon Avenue" (Original Version)	Interchangeable
	"Tattooed Heart" (with extended outro)
	"Moonlight"
	"Get Well Soon" (Shortened)
	Act 4
	"In My Head"	Interlude (played from tape)
18.	"Everytime" (Shortened)
19.	"The Light Is Coming" (Shortened)
20.	"Into You" (Shortened)
	Act 5
	"My Heart Belongs To Daddy" (Marilyn Monroe cover)	Interlude (played from tape)
21.	"Dangerous Woman"
22.	"No Tears Left To Cry"	Main Set Closer
	Encore
	"Thank U, Next Interlude"	Interlude (played from tape)
23.	"Thank U, Next" (with extended outro)	Show Closer

Setlist Changes

• During the first show in Boston, Grande performed "Rule the World" with 2 Chainz.
• During the first show in Washington, D.C., Grande performed "Got Her Own" with Victoria Monét.
• During the shows in Montréal and the second show in Los Angeles, the first shows in Inglewood, the first show in Las Vegas and Anaheim, Grande performed "MONOPOLY" with Victoria Monét.
• During the first show at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, "successful", "bloodline", "fake smile", "make up", "You'll Never Know", "everytime", and "One Last Time" were not performed. Additionally, Grande performed:
  • "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored" and a cover of "Tearin' Up My Heart" with *NSYNC.
  • "Side to Side" and "Bang Bang" with Nicki Minaj.
  • "Mo Money Mo Problems" with Diddy and Mase.

• During the second show at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Grande performed "Bang Bang", and "Sorry" with Justin Bieber. "successful", "bloodline", "fake smile", "make up", "You’ll Never Know", "goodnight n go", "everytime", and "One Last Time" were not performed.
• Starting with the show in Edmonton, "One Last Time" was removed from the set list.
• Starting with the show in Phoenix, "goodnight n go" was removed from the set list and replaced with "get well soon".
• During the show in Charlotte, Grande performed "Tattooed Heart" and "Piano".
• Starting with the second show in Washington, D.C., "bloodline" was removed from the set list.
• During the show at Lollapalooza, Grande performed "boyfriend" with Social House. "raindrops", "successful", "fake smile", "make up", "Right There", "You'll Never Know", "Break Your Heart Right Back", and "everytime" were not performed.
• Starting with the first show in London, "get well soon" was removed from the set list and replaced with "Only 1". "boyfriend" was added to the setlist, and the "Close to You" interlude was changed to "Adore".
• During the show at Manchester Pride, Grande only performed "no tears left to cry", "Be Alright", "break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored", "Side to Side", "7 rings", "Break Free", "breathin", "Love Me Harder", "thank u, next", and "One Last Time".
• Starting with the show in Vienna, "boyfriend" was removed from the set list.
• Starting with the third show in Dublin, "successful" was removed from the setlist and "Only 1" was not performed.
• Starting with the show in Oslo, "Only 1" was removed from the set list and replaced with "Tattooed Heart".
• Starting with the show in Uniondale, "successful" was re-added to the setlist, "Right There", "You'll Never Know", "Break Your Heart Right Back", and "Tattooed Heart" were removed from the set list and replaced with "December", "True Love", "Wit It This Christmas", "Santa Tell Me", and "Winter Things" were added.
• During the show in Uniondale, "Into You" and "Love Me Harder" were not performed.
• During the third show in Brooklyn, Grande performed "Tattooed Heart" instead of "Winter Things".
• During the second show in Atlanta, Grande performed "I Think You're Swell" with Matt Bennett and "Give It Up" with Elizabeth Gillies. "successful" and "Break Free" were not performed.
• Starting with the show in Raleigh, "Winter Things" was removed from the set list and replaced with "get well soon".
• During the second show in Dallas, Grande performed "Moonlight" instead of "get well soon".
• During the second show in Phoenix, Grande performed "Tattooed Heart" instead of "get well soon".
• Starting with the show in Anaheim, "get well soon" was removed from the set list and replaced with "Honeymoon Avenue".
• During the second show in Las Vegas, "Successful" was not performed.

Notes

• The last 2 shows in London were filmed for the concert's Netflix documentary.
• During the second show in Atlanta, Grande sang the original "God is a woman" climax as a falsetto rather than as a whistle tone. This is the only show she did this at.

Gallery

“deep breaths, tight chest, life, death” To view the Sweetener World Tour gallery, click here.

Videos

Ariana Grande - "Be Alright" Sweetener Tour 2019 at the BBMAs T-Mobile

Ariana Grande - 7 rings (Live From The Billboard Music Awards 2019)

Social House - Haunt You (Official Lyric Video)

Social House - On Tour with Ariana Grande (Episode 1)

Social House - New Music (soon) + Merch (Episode 2)

Social House - Coachella (Episode 3)

Social House - Sweetener Tour Europe (Episode 4)

Social House - Sweetener Tour Europe (Episode 5)

Social House - Sweetener Tour (Episode 6)

Social House - First Headline Show Sweetener Tour (Episode 7)

Social House - Sweetener Tour (Episode 8)

Ariana Grande and the Twins in episode two of "&Music" Quibi

I Think You're Swell (Live at State Farm Arena, Atlanta GA 11 19 19)

Ariana Grande - Sweetener World Tour (Live at Lollapalooza 2019)

Shows

• First leg
• Second leg
• Third leg

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act(s)
North America
March 18, 2019	Albany	United States	MVP Arena	Normani Social House
March 20, 2019	Boston		TD Garden
March 22, 2019	Buffalo		KeyBank Center
March 25, 2019	Washington, D.C.		Capital One Arena
March 26, 2019	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center
March 28, 2019	Cleveland		Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
March 30, 2019	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena
April 1, 2019	Montréal	Canada	Centre Bell
April 3, 2019	Toronto		Scotiabank Arena
April 5, 2019	Detroit	United States	Little Caesars Arena
April 14, 2019	Indio		Coachella Festival	N/A
April 21, 2019
April 25, 2019	Edmonton	Canada	Rogers Place	Normani Social House
April 27, 2019	Vancouver		Rogers Arena
April 30, 2019	Portland	United States	Moda Center
May 2, 2019	San Jose		SAP Center
May 3, 2019	Sacramento		Golden 1 Center
May 6, 2019	Los Angeles		Crypto.com Arena
May 7, 2019
May 10, 2019	Inglewood		Kia Forum
May 11, 2019	Las Vegas		T-Mobile Arena
May 14, 2019	Phoenix		Footprint Center
May 17, 2019	San Antonio		AT&T Center
May 19, 2019	Houston		Toyota Center
May 21, 2019	Dallas		American Airlines Center
May 23, 2019	Oklahoma City		Paycom Center
May 25, 2019	New Orleans		Smoothie King Center
May 31, 2019	Miami		FTX Arena
June 1, 2019
June 4, 2019	Chicago		United Center
June 5, 2019
June 7, 2019	Nashville		Bridgestone Arena
June 8, 2019	Atlanta		State Farm Arena
June 10, 2019	Charlotte		Spectrum Center
June 12, 2019	Pittsburgh		PPG Paints Arena	Social House
June 14, 2019	Brooklyn		Barclays Center	Normani Social House
June 15, 2019
June 18, 2019	New York City		Madison Square Garden
June 19, 2019
June 21, 2019	Washington, D.C.		Capital One Arena
June 22, 2019	Boston		TD Garden
June 24, 2019	Philadelphia		Wells Fargo Center
June 26, 2019	Toronto	Canada	Scotiabank Arena
June 29, 2019	Indianapolis	United States	Gainbridge Fieldhouse
July 1, 2019	Columbus		Value City Arena
July 5, 2019	Milwaukee		Fiserv Forum
July 6, 2019	Saint Louis		Enterprise Center
July 8, 2019	Saint Paul		Xcel Energy Center
July 11, 2019	Denver		Ball Arena
July 13, 2019	Salt Lake City		Vivint Arena
August 4, 2019	Chicago		Lollapalooza	N/A

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act(s)
Europe
August 17, 2019	London	England	O2 Arena	Ella Mai Social House
August 19, 2019
August 20, 2019
August 23, 2019	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Ziggo Dome
August 24, 2019
August 25, 2019	Manchester	England	Mayfield Park	N/A
August 27, 2019	Paris	France	Accor Arena	Ella Mai Social House
August 28, 2019
August 30, 2019	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis
September 1, 2019	Cologne	Germany	Lanxess Arena
September 3, 2019	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
September 4, 2019	Prague	Czech Republic	O2 Arena
September 11, 2019	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Ziggo Dome
September 14, 2019	Birmingham	England	Utilita Arena Birmingham
September 15, 2019
September 17, 2019	Glasgow	Scotland	OVO Hydro
September 19, 2019	Sheffield	England	Utilita Arena Sheffield
September 22, 2019	Dublin	Ireland	3Arena
September 23, 2019
September 25, 2019
September 28, 2019	Hamburg	Germany	Barclays Arena
October 1, 2019	Copenhagen	Denmark	Royal Arena
October 3, 2019	Oslo	Norway	Telenor Arena
October 5, 2019	Helsinki	Finland	Helsinki Halli
October 7, 2019	Stockholm	Sweden	Avicii Arena
October 9, 2019	Hamburg	Germany	Barclays Arena
October 10, 2019	Berlin		Mercedes-Benz Arena
October 13, 2019	Zürich	Switzerland	Hallenstadion
October 15, 2019	London	England	O2 Arena
October 16, 2019

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening act(s)
North America
November 9, 2019	Uniondale	United States	Nassau Coliseum	Social House
November 12, 2019	Brooklyn		Barclays Center
November 15, 2019	Charlottesville		John Paul Jones Arena
November 19, 2019	Atlanta		State Farm Arena
November 22, 2019	Raleigh		PNC Arena
November 24, 2019	Tampa		Amalie Arena
November 25, 2019	Orlando		Amway Center
November 27, 2019	Miami		FTX Arena
December 1, 2019	Jacksonville		VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
December 3, 2019	Columbia		Colonial Life Arena
December 5, 2019	Nashville		Bridgestone Arena
December 7, 2019	Memphis		FedExForum
December 9, 2019	Dallas		American Airlines Center
December 12, 2019	Phoenix		Footprint Center
December 13, 2019	Anaheim		Honda Center
December 15, 2019	Las Vegas		MGM Grand Garden Arena
December 17, 2019	San Francisco		Chase Center
December 18, 2019
December 21, 2019	Inglewood		Kia Forum
December 22, 2019

Cancelled shows

List of cancelled concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and reason for cancellation

Date	City	Country	Venue	Reason/Additional Info
April 18, 2019	Omaha	United States	CHI Health Center Omaha	Schedules changes due to Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
June 4, 2019	Raleigh		PNC Arena
September 9, 2019	Kraków	Poland	Tauron Arena	Personal issues
November 17, 2019	Lexington	United States	Rupp Arena	Illness

Personnel

Performers

• Ariana Grande
• Normani (opening act for North American leg)
• Social House (opening act)
• Ella Mai (opening act for European leg)
• 2 Chainz (special guest)
• Nicki Minaj (special guest)
• Victoria Monét (special guest)
• NSYNC (special guest)
• Justin Bieber (special guest)
• Elizabeth Gillies (special guest)
• Matt Bennett (special guest)

The Sweetener Kiids with Grande during rehearsals.

Band

• Natural
• Aaron Spears
• Eric Ingram
• Nelson Jackson III

Dancers

• Joesar Alva
• Bong Buño
• Darrion Gallegos
• Igor Faria
• Taya Shawki
• Cory Graves
• Mao Kawakami
• Brian Nicholson
• Scott Nicholson
• Luz Remigio
• Tiley Strozewski
• Kristopher Terry
• Nekai Johnson