Entertainment

Ariana Grande & Barbra Streisand Surprised Fans With An Epic Duet

by Jamie LeeLo
Jason Kempin/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images & Rich Fury/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

What must it be like to be a true icon? This used to be a question for OG greats like Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, and of course, Barbra Streisand. However, Ariana Grande is rapidly swooping in to take her seat at the table. Objectively, she and Streisand are of two separate times. Streisand and her generation hold down the Diva Era, while Grande and her peers like Lady Gaga and Cardi B rep the Queen Generation. So, what happens when you combine the two? Pure magic. The video of Ariana Grande performing "No More Tears" with Barbara Streisand is so, so epic, and giving goosebumps to music lovers everywhere.

On Tuesday, August 6, Streisand took the stage for her one-night-only concert at Chicago’s United Center. Whatever you want from a Streisand performance, she delivered. Streisand cascaded around the stage in a flowing black ensemble and her signature center-part hairdo. Seeing this woman perform alone in an empty room is enough to induce hysteria, but when you sprinkle in a little Ariana Grande, you're asking for a history-making moment.

Grande joined Streisand to perform a duet to the 1979 tune, “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough),” which Streisand originated with the late, great Donna Summer. To be frank: Grande's entrance wasn't anything earth-shattering. Rather, the two went with the simple, slow-burn decision to have Grande slowly appear from behind Streisand after she crooned the opening lyrics, "My love life is boring me to tears.” After that, said magic ensued.

The two made such meaningful eye contact, swapping riffs and passing off melodies. Fortunately, plenty of fans caught the song on camera, and at the time of publication, Grande had the whole performance in her stories, too. She captioned two of the clips with the notes "thank you @barbarastreisand" and "the best night of my life."

Instagram/Ariana Grande
Instagram/Ariana Grande

Honestly? Mine too, and I wasn't even there.

Look at this amazingness:

While it's clipped off of the video here, you can hear Grande say in her stories that she's "gonna go pass out" and that Streisand is going to find "10 pounds of hair" leftover on the stage. (Hey, you can't contain ponytail excellence.)

Though this whole thing was a wonderful surprise, those who follow Streisand on social media had a hunch this moment was coming. On the Monday before the performance, Streisand posted a photo of her and Grande's hands on Instagram. She captioned the picture, "Made a new friend..." Anyone who considers themselves even somewhat of an Arianator would recognize those tattoos anywhere.

After the performance, both women shared the same photo of themselves backstage, Streisand's in color and Grande's in black and white. Streisand captioned her picture, "Secret’s out. Thank you @arianagrande 🖤🖤🖤" and Grande opted for, "cherishing this moment forever @barbrastreisand."

#Same, Ari.

One day in a not-so-distant future, the divas and queens of my future children's generation will be praying for a performance with Ariana Grande. No telling how the ponytail is going to evolve, but if it's anything like Streisand's signature looks, I know it's gonna be good.