Ariana Grande is continuing to unveil pieces of her next era ahead of the release of “hate that i made you love me.” On May 19, the singer shared another lyric from the upcoming single through her Instagram account braighterdays, posting the line: “i will find my way from you like flowers from a tomb.”
The haunting lyric immediately fueled fan speculation around the emotional direction of the track, which arrives May 29 as the lead single from Grande’s eighth studio album, petal.
The post arrives just one day after Grande uploaded the first visual teaser connected to the song. Earlier this month, she officially confirmed “hate that i made you love me” while describing it as “one of my favorite songs i’ll ever write.” The single was produced by Grande alongside longtime collaborators Max Martin and ILYA Salmanzadeh, the same creative trio behind several of her biggest records across Sweetener, Thank U, Next, and Positions.
Conversation around petal intensified further after Grande responded to a fan question during an interaction in New York on May 9. Asked whether the upcoming album would resemble Positions sonically, she answered bluntly: “no, but i love her.”
That brief comment quickly spread across social media because it reinforced earlier hints that petal could represent one of the sharpest pivots of Grande’s career. Over the last several weeks, the singer has repeatedly described the album using unusually visceral language, including calling the project “feral” during an Instagram video discussing its themes.
“It was kind of about breaking up with all kinds of negative attachments,” Grande explained previously. “Things that no longer serve me. It’s a little feral. It’s definitely from a place that I have been maybe, like, too shy or polite to tap into before.”
Musically, petal is already shaping up to be one of 2026’s most anticipated pop releases. The album arrives July 31 through BabyDoll Music under exclusive license to Republic Records and will launch just weeks after Grande begins her Eternal Sunshine Tour on June 6 in Oakland. The arena run spans 41 dates across North America and Europe before concluding Sept. 1 in London.
Commercial expectations surrounding the project are enormous. Positions debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in October 2020 and produced the Hot 100-topping title track, while Eternal Sunshine earlier this decade further solidified Grande’s position among the biggest popstars of the 21st century.
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