Ariana Grande’s London Tour Payday: How the Pop Star Is Cashing In Before Her Break

Framed by the eerie set of a decaying house, Ariana Grande’s famed four-octave voice filled London’s sprawling O2 Arena, cutting through the darkness with the force that has made her one of pop’s defining stars.

Devoted fans had flown in from across the globe for a chance to see their idol during what is billed as her final run of shows before an open-ended hiatus, a pause announced amid intense public discussion about her health and noticeably slimmer appearance.

As her final ten London concerts became a full-blown celebration, Ariana fever swept the capital — and, behind the scenes, her management team moved quickly to seize the moment.

It was a prime opportunity to turn the frenzy into revenue before the curtain falls.

No fewer than four Ariana Grande pop-up shops have been launched in London, stocked with merchandise and related products, as the team looks to maximise demand before her last concert on September 1.

‘What Ariana Grande and her team are doing in London is a masterclass in how to maximise the commercial value of a global superstar without diminishing the fan experience,’ talent manager Professor Jonathan Shalit told Our News Outlet.

‘For these two weeks, they have effectively turned London into an Ariana Grande destination. The concerts are only one part of it — the beauty, fashion, jewellery, vinyl, and merchandise all extend the world of Ariana beyond the O2.

‘The logistics and commercial preparation behind this will have been enormous. The really clever part is that none of it feels disconnected from Ariana. Music, beauty, fashion, and luxury are all authentic parts of her brand, which is why these partnerships work.

‘There will be many millions of pounds of economic activity generated around these ten shows.’

Indeed there will: her sold-out shows are set to generate between £65 million and £78 million for the capital’s economy, with up to 200,000 fans from across Europe expected to attend her ten-night run at the O2 Arena.

Knowing this could be one of their last chances to see their idol, her fans feel justified to splurge. Many have spent hundreds of pounds on travel and hotels, on top of their ticket purchase, which start at £125.

It’s estimated each fan is whole-heartedly buying into the farewell Ariana experience, spending an average £389 on extras.

At the O2 merchandise stand, there are hoodies for sale for £120, hats for £40 and tote bags for £30.

Then there are three more pop-up stores in London, generating mega-queues every day.

As one fan wrote on TikTok, next to a video of Ariana being hoisted into the air during her final song: ‘Me watching my £1,400 levitate away,’

Another posted: ‘Guess who just spent over £400 at Ariana Grande’s merch pop-up,’ before showing off her haul, which included a £51 teddy bear.

Her team is also seizing the opportunity to promote Ariana’s beauty range, R.E.M, with pop up stores at the O2 (which can be accessed without a ticket for the show) and also in Carnaby Street, where fans have been seen queueing for hours.

She founded the company in 2019 and officially launched it in November 2021, rivalling the likes of Hailey Bieber’s Rhode and Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty.

Popular items on offer include an eyeshadow quad palette retailing at £30, a blur butter lip balm for £23, a glow stick for £21 and a plumping lip gloss for £19.

Elsewhere, Swarovski are also climbing aboard the Ariana Grande gravy train, with a pop-up in their flagship store on Oxford Street.

In January 2025, Ariana launched a capsule collection with the jewellery brand. A second ‘nature-inspired’ collection followed and launched in March this year.

The collection includes earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches, and prices range from £89 to £400.

Fans can also get their hands on cheaper merchandise from much-more affordable high street retailer Primark, where hoodies cost £20, and T-shirts, £10 – which will keep the Ariana tills ringing.

Prof Shalit added: ‘When a fan spends £120 on a hoodie or £40 on a T-shirt, they are not simply buying clothing. They are buying a memory of being part of an Ariana Grande moment.

‘I would not describe this as Ariana ‘cashing in’ before taking a break. I would describe it as extraordinarily sophisticated artist management: understanding that you have a moment of maximum fan engagement and making the most of it.

‘Scarcity can make a superstar more valuable. If Ariana steps away for a period, people will miss her. When she eventually returns, the anticipation could be enormous.’

And there’s every indication fans could be kept waiting a while.

Speaking to US actress Amy Poehler on her podcast ahead of her current tour, she explained: ‘I’m very excited to do this small tour. But I think it might not happen again for a long, long, long, long time.

‘I’m going to give it my all, and it’s going to be beautiful. And I’m so grateful. I think that’s why I’m doing it because I’m like: ‘One last hurrah’ – for now.’

With an estimated net worth of $250 million, Ariana, 33, will hardly be short of cash when she steps away from public life in September.

She’s expected to hunker down with her boyfriend Ricky Alvarez, 35, in her £3.6 million mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The pair first dated from 2015 to 2016 when Ricky was one of her back-up dancers and have since rekindled their relationship.

So drastic will her pull-back from the spotlight be that Ariana’s team has cancelled her commitments in November for the Focker-in-Law movie press tour.

The star will appear opposite Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson in the latest of the ‘Meet the Parents’ film franchise.

Another major work commitment that has been affected by the shock hiatus was her eagerly anticipated upcoming role in a Barbican production of Sunday In The Park with George: Stephen Sondheim’s legendary 1984 musical about Georges Seurat and his mistress Dot.

Jonathan Bailey, Ariana’s co-star in the Wicked franchise, will still fulfil his obligations as the 19th-century French painter, but not Ariana.

Her casting had been a major coup for producers – and a triumph for the London venue – to have pulled in the two stars of the Wicked films, by far the most successful cinematic adaptations of Broadway musicals ever, grossing more than $750million [£550million] at the box office and garnering ten Oscar nominations (including one for Ariana as Best Supporting Actress), for her role as Glinda ‘the good witch’.

But playing the character took an emotional and physical toll.

Intensive rehearsal schedules and performing demanding stunts alongside British co-star Cynthia Erivo were all-consuming.

It was then that conversations about Ariana’s weight began, as fans shared their concern when she appeared noticeably thinner while promoting the film.

Speculation around her altered appearance – some concerned, some prurient and some simply cruel – has dogged her for a long time.

For her own part, she has always publicly insisted that she is perfectly healthy and never directly addressed concerns about her dramatic weight loss.

The closest she came to referencing it came in April 2023, when she posted on TikTok: ‘I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies,’ adding it was hard ‘to be paid this close attention’.

But it was the release of the music video for her new single that Petal served inflated speculation surrounding her appearance.

Ariana surely hoped that it would attract attention for its ardently feminist closing scene, in which she attacks a group of rude and dismissive male music executives with a chainsaw, ending up drenched in blood, like a horror film.

However, although the Petal video swiftly racked up millions of views, the reaction focused almost entirely on her strikingly thin appearance.

The British actress and left-wing activist Jameela Jamil – who herself has survived an eating disorder – weighed in online, claiming that Ariana was ‘possibly dying in front of us’ and wondering why her team had chosen to release such a ‘damaging image for young fans’.