When it comes to Ariana Grande’s friends, she never has a reason to say “thank u, next.” The singer, 26, has been relying on her group of besties to get her through some of the toughest times in her life, including the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and end of her engagement to SNL comedian Pete Davidson.

“She keeps her friends close and always has her friends around,” a source revealed to Us Weekly. “That really helps her get out of dark times and sadness. That’s what really helps get her though it — that and family.” 

Ariana Grande on stage with her grandma, mom, and aunt
John Shearer/Getty Images for MTV

“After going through all that pain in 2018, it just doesn’t get easier,” the source continued. “You don’t magically develop a better set of coping skills to deal with all those horrible, painful things that happened to her last year. She’s doing better and there is upward momentum. There are good and bad days, but it gets better.”

Better, indeed! As it stands, 2019 is shaping up to be a momentous year for the brunette beauty. For starters, on Jan. 3, Ari announced that she will be headlining the ever-famous Coachella music festival in April. In addition to that amazing achievement, Ariana took to Instagram once more on Jan. 10, to reveal that her new single “7 Rings” is dropping on Jan. 18! Unsurprisingly, the tune is about her longtime girlfriends Courtney Chipolone, Njomza, Tayla Parx, Alexa Luria, Victoria Monét, and Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk.

Ariana Grande tweets about her new single
Twitter

So the story goes: ‘Twas a pretty rough day in NYC. My friends took me to Tiffany’s. We had too much champagne. I bought us all rings. It was very insane and funny. On the way back to the [studio], Njomza was like, ‘b–ch,’ this [has] gotta be a song. So, we wrote it that afternoon,” Ariana wrote on Twitter.

Of course, the songstress’ grandmother, affectionately known as Nonna, and Ari’s mom, Joan Grande, both got rings as well. So, er, technically there’s nine, but we can’t wait for the song anyway. We’re so glad that Ariana has the solid support system she so very much deserves.

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