It is “a normal thing that people do”

Ariana Grande once again defended the wild pitch swings she displayed while recording a podcast last month.

During her performance in June on Podcrushed with 31-year-old singer Penn Badgley caused a stir on social media when, in a careless moment, she made her voice deeper and hoarser than she usually does and then suddenly pitched it significantly higher.

She later defended the rapid changes on social media, saying they were a leftover from her time speaking in a higher pitch while filming the upcoming Wicked adaptation and her constant attempts to protect her voice.

And on Tuesday’s episode of the “Shut Up Evan” podcast, Ariana said the changes in her voice are a “normal” part of speaking, especially for someone with such a wide vocal range as her.

Ariana had previously sparked speculation about her voice at this year’s Oscars when she gave a particularly high-pitched murmur while accepting an award alongside her “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo.

On Tuesday’s episode, Ariana said that quickly lowering and then raising her voice is “a normal thing for people, especially when you have a wide vocal range.”

However, she added that playing the good Glinda in “Wicked” may have influenced the way she speaks off-camera, as the witch speaks in a high, squeaky voice that is noticeably different from the lower pitch Ariana has used in video interviews in recent years.

“I really spent a lot of time playing a character every day,” she admitted.

Although some of her most suspicious fans were convinced that Ariana had consciously decided to change the pitch of her voice, she added that the change could also happen unintentionally.

“(I’ve) been training my voice for a long time for different things before I left for London and before all this; muscle memory is a real thing,” she explained.

Ariana not only explained the mechanism of the pitch shift that listeners noticed, but also attributed some of the uproar to sexism.

“I mean, when you see male actors, I’m sure people make jokes here and there, but it’s always afterward, ‘Oh wow, how dedicated he is to his craft! What an incredible transformation! He’s a brilliant performer!'” she claimed.

“But then it’s like, God forbid, I sneeze like Glinda or something, (then) I’m just crazy… it’s the weirdest thing,” she continued.

Although Ariana pointed to a dynamic that other women in Hollywood and the entertainment industry have noticed, the transformative achievements of male stars have not been completely ignored.

Following the release of his successful biopic “Elvis” in 2022, Austin Butler was heavily mocked by critics on social media for apparently retaining much of the drawled pronunciation he had adopted for portraying Elvis Presley.

However, the actor received even more praise from his fans after his performance in “Dune – Part 2,” in which he developed an accent that seemed to be heavily inspired by the voice of Stellan Skarsgård, who played his uncle in the film.

Ultimately, Ariana didn’t seem too concerned about the change in her voice, which she had previously attributed in part to her focus on vocal health, which she described as a “full-time job” and “lifestyle” during her last podcast appearance.

“It’s not something you can mess around with. It’s your lifeline, it’s your instrument and it’s something you can take out of a box and put back,” she added. “It’s something you have to think about 24/7.”

During her appearance on Podcrushed last month, Ariana spoke about her evolution as a singer and her journey as a songwriter while delving into her latest album, Eternal Sunshine, when the surprising change in her voice occurred.

“I went into the studio the day after the Met and stayed for about 10 days. I literally lived there and it felt like I woke up today and felt like Austin Powers being defrosted,” Ariana laughed, as Penn and his co-hosts Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari giggled along.

“That’s how I felt,” she continued. “I thought, ‘What happened?'”

“But yes, I do,” she said, her voice getting noticeably higher and breathier as she composed herself and continued.

“I would like to do a deluxe album at some point,” she said.

And fans couldn’t believe this change, expressing their concern – and disbelief – on social media.

“As a singer, maybe she’s trying to speak with a less damaging part of her voice,” one user speculated.

“Speaking higher like this, without the vocal noise like in the beginning, is better for the voice, especially when it is tired,” said another user.

Another asked: “Ariana Grande is so creepy because why did she change her voice in the middle of an interview like nothing happened?”

“People must be delusional because it’s clear her (Glinda’s) voice keeps her in the high register,” commented another.

They continued: “She even explained in the interview how she trained for months for the opera. She had to speak like that for over a year, that’s hard to just give up like that. Remember Austin Butler?”

Ariana responded to the comments by saying that she has “always” changed her voice depending on how much she is singing.

In her response, posted in the comments of a TikTok video highlighting her rapid voice change, Ariana stated that the problem was partly that she had gotten used to speaking in her higher voice for “Wicked,” in which she plays the role of Galinda Upland, later known as Glinda the Good.

“Habit (of speaking like this for two years) and also vocal health :),” she explained in her comment.

“I intentionally change my vocal pitch (high/low) often depending on how much I’m singing,” she continued, adding a tear-streaming emoji.

“I’ve always done it this way, BYE,” she added, putting an abrupt end to the speculation.

Although Ariana didn’t specifically mention it, several fans speculated that she went back to her higher voice to avoid “vocal fry” – a slightly croaky vocal tone that occurs when people speak in a deep, relaxed voice. Many people believe that “vocal fry” can damage a person’s vocal cords or singing voice.

However, this seems to be largely a myth, and according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, vocal fry has no negative effects on the voice.

However, speaking with vocal fry may make this habit more likely to develop over time, and the condition may be a sign of underlying vocal injuries that require treatment.

In fact, negative opinions about vocal fry may have more to do with sexism than a real health issue, as complaints about vocal fry are more often directed at women than men, even though some people find the sound of these noises genuinely unpleasant.

In March, Ariana was seen onstage at the Academy Awards with her “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo, where she surprised her fans and viewers with her higher-pitched voice, which seems similar to the one she uses in her role as Galinda.

“This is NOT how she normally sounds!” said one fan on Instagram, while another wondered, “What happened to her voice?”

“Someone needs to get Ariana Grande to stop using her Glinda voice. It’s too soon for another Austin Butler situation,” joked another user.