Ariana Grande is mourning Coco, her 17-year-old dog and a familiar companion to fans who followed the singer’s early career.
The 33-year-old announced Coco’s death on October 19, sharing an Instagram tribute filled with photographs and videos from their life together.
“I will miss you every day and hold you in my heart always,” she wrote, according to PEOPLE.
Grande did not disclose a cause of death. Her message thanked Coco for her love and for the happiness she brought to the people around her.
Grande Shares Birthday Memories and a Familiar Morning Routine
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The 17-slide collection included close-up portraits, photographs of Grande holding and kissing Coco, and several black-and-white images.
In a video, Coco prepares to jump from a low concrete step onto a walkway while Grande encourages her. “Come on girlie, come on you got it,” the singer calls as the dog considers her next move.
The final image shows Coco’s paws beside a white rose. Grande called her the “sweetest, most amazing and most beautiful” dog and told her she was proud of her.
Friends left condolences beneath the post. Grande’s former Victorious costar Leon Thomas remembered Coco affectionately, while Rachel Zegler sent the singer her love.
Coco Was Grande’s First Music Vlog Guest
Grande first announced that she had gotten Coco in 2010, while appearing on Nickelodeon’s Victorious, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Coco also had a Twitter account, @MissCocoGrande, whose last reported update appeared in April 2012, according to The Independent.
That December, Grande chose Coco as the first guest in a planned music vlog. The 46-second video, uploaded to her YouTube channel on December 28, was titled “Ariana’s Music Vlog episode 1 – Coco breaks it down.”
Grande was 19 and working toward her debut album, Yours Truly, released the following year. Sitting with Coco, she asked whether the dog liked her new music and thought her fans would enjoy it.
Grande carried on the interview despite her guest’s silence, eventually thanking Coco for the feedback. She planned to ask friends and family about her music in future installments.
Coco also appeared in the videos for “Put Your Hearts Up” and “Positions.” The latter, released in 2020, cast Grande as president, with her dogs joining her in an outdoor scene on the White House grounds.
Grande Helped Cover Adoption Fees for Rescue Dogs
Grande supported animal adoptions during her 2015 Honeymoon Tour, arranging for dogs seeking homes to meet concertgoers and sponsoring adoption fees.
Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue’s 2015 annual report records a $6,750 donation from Grande that March toward adoption fees for 15 dogs. The report also includes a photograph of her with one of the organization’s rescues.
In a 2015 Billboard interview, reproduced by Just Jared Jr., Grande described working with BarkBox to bring adoptable dogs to venues in different cities. She said all the dogs whose adoptions she sponsored had found homes. She also encouraged fans who could not adopt to share local shelters’ posts about animals still waiting for families.
She Later Helped Launch Orange Twins Rescue
In November 2020, Grande helped launch Orange Twins Rescue in Los Angeles with brothers Brian and Scott Nicholson, longtime collaborators who had worked with her as dancers and choreographers.
The nonprofit’s work included cats as well as dogs. By early 2021, Grande was sharing profiles of animals awaiting adoption, including pets recovering from injuries, as HOLA! reported at the time.
Bel Air Grooming owner Asami Kuroki was also identified as the organization’s foster coordinator, helping arrange temporary care while animals waited for permanent homes.