Ariana Grande found the push to embrace her own style from her late ex Mac Miller.

The "We Can't Be Friends" singer appeared on the January 13 episode of The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast where she made rare comments about the rapper, who died in 2018. During the chat, which was filmed in December in front of an audience at Chapman University, Grande explained how Miller "encouraged me to be myself," per People.

Despite being a natural brunette, Grande was once know for the fiery red hair of her Victorious character and days on Nickelodeon. However, when it came time for her to dive into her music career, Miller helped her see "that it was okay to kind of shed that character and embrace my brown hair and make R&B-influenced pop music and... do the brave thing. I've never said that, but it was a great influence."

The Wicked star also reflected on the "hard" time of her life — and especially her hair care routine — where she had to navigate her acting responsibilities with her music career and performing as herself.

"I do remember when, before the red wig entered the chat, when my hair was actually dyed red, there was a time when I was performing on the weekends as Ariana Grande, and I would have to tone my hair brown on Friday night after we wrapped filming. And then late Sunday night, I would have to do a clarifying rinse and get the red back for Monday morning to be on set at 6 a.m."

Grande made the switch back to her darker hair color last year after rocking blonde for the last three years during her time filming Wicked. She previously explained why her latest looks are a departure from the pink and pastel style she has modeled in recent memory.

Kerry Collins