'I didn’t even know one song...'; Aaradhya Bachchan took Abhishek Bachchan to Ariana Grande's concert, but left impressed; Why parents should stop dismissing Gen Z music

Ariana Grande may be a familiar name to millions of younger listeners, but for Abhishek Bachchan, her music was largely unexplored territory. That changed when his teenage daughter Aaradhya Bachchan took him and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to one of Grande’s concerts during a family holiday. He went in without knowing a single song and came away impressed by something that transcended generations: the singer’s voice and the enthusiasm of her young audience. 

What was Abhishek Bachchan’s experience at the Ariana Grande concert

Speaking to BBC Asian Network, Abhishek admitted that he was unfamiliar with Grande’s music before the concert. “I didn’t even know one song, but that woman could sing. Oh my god! The quality of the voice… unbelievable,” he said, adding that witnessing the fandom surrounding younger pop stars was equally striking. But his comments are interesting for another reason. Rather than dismissing music simply because it belongs to a younger generation, Abhishek allowed his daughter’s interests to become an introduction to a world he did not know.

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From Kishore Kumar to Ariana Grande: What is Abhishek Bachchan's song preference

Abhishek Bachchan's own musical preferences remain firmly connected to the classics. He has previously spoken about his admiration for Kishore Kumar and legendary composers including RD Burman, SD Burman, Kalyanji-Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Aaradhya, however, has widened that playlist. “I have a 14-year-old at home, so there is a lot of Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande,” Abhishek said. He also described his daughter's taste as “eclectic”, noting that she enjoys 1980s acts such as Bon Jovi, Van Halen and Metallica as well. That makes the Bachchan household an interesting example of how music can become a bridge between generations rather than a dividing line.

Why parents may need to give Gen Z music a try

Abhishek Bachchan himself acknowledged a familiar habit among older listeners rejecting contemporary artists simply because their music belongs to a different generation. “I know as an older generation like, ‘Oh no no, we don’t want to listen to Taylor Swift.’ No, they actually make great music,” he said.

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Research suggests younger audiences are deeply engaged with audio. The 2025 Gen Z Audio Report found that Americans aged 13–24 spend an average of 4 hours and 10 minutes with audio each day. Deloitte's 2025 Digital Media Trends also found that Gen Z respondents spend more total time with media and entertainment each day than older generations, reflecting how central digital entertainment has become to their lives.

Aaradhya’s Bachchan's playlist becomes a family conversation

The bigger takeaway from Abhishek’s story is not simply that a Bollywood actor attended an Ariana Grande concert. It is that parents can discover another side of their children by entering their world instead of dismissing it. For Aaradhya, introducing her parents to Ariana Grande became more than a concert outing. For Abhishek, it offered a reminder that unfamiliar music can still be extraordinary even when you don't know a single song.