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Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande
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Ariana Grande-Butera (/.ɑːriˈɑːnə ˈɡrɑːnd bjʊˈtɛərə/ AR-ee-AH-nə GRAHN-day byuu-TAIR;[note 1] born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle register, she is regarded as an influential figure in popular music. Publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard have deemed Grande one of the greatest artists in history while Time included her on its list of the world's 100 most influential people in 2016 and 2019.

Key Information

Grande's career began as a teenager in the Broadway musical 13 (2008) before gaining prominence as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious (2010–2013) and its spin-off Sam & Cat (2013–2014). After signing with Republic Records, she released her debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013), a retro-inspired pop and R&B record that debuted atop the Billboard 200. Grande incorporated elements of electronic on her next two albums, My Everything (2014) and Dangerous Woman (2016), which both achieved international success, spawning the singles "Problem", "Break Free", "Bang Bang", "One Last Time", "Into You" and "Side to Side".

Grande delved into trap on the albums Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019). The former won Grande her first Grammy Award, while the latter garnered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Thank U, Next" and "7 Rings". With the title track of Positions (2020), as well as the collaborations "Stuck with U" and "Rain on Me", she achieved the most number-one debuts in the U.S. After a musical hiatus, she explored dance on Eternal Sunshine (2024), which yielded the U.S. number-one songs "Yes, And?" and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)". She returned to acting with the political satire Don't Look Up (2021), and her portrayal of Glinda in the fantasy musical Wicked (2024) earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Grande is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 90 million records. The highest-paid female musician in 2020, her accolades include two Grammy Awards, a Brit Award, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, 39 Guinness World Records, and thirteen MTV Video Music Awards. Six of Grande's albums have reached number one on the Billboard 200, while nine of her songs have topped the Billboard Hot 100. She has worked with many charitable organizations and advocates for animal rights, mental health, and gender, racial, and LGBT equality. Her business ventures include R.E.M. Beauty, a cosmetics brand launched in 2021, and a fragrance line that has earned over $1 billion in global retail sales. She has a large social media following, being the sixth-most-followed individual on Instagram.

Early life

[edit]

Ariana Grande-Butera was born on June 26, 1993, in Boca Raton, Florida.[2][3] She is the daughter of Joan Grande, the Brooklyn-born CEO of Hose-McCann Communications, a manufacturer of marine communications equipment owned by the Grande family since 1964,[4] and Edward Butera, a graphic design firm owner in Boca Raton.[5][6] Grande is of Italian[7] descent and has described herself as an Italian American with Sicilian and Abruzzese roots.[8] She has an older half-brother, Frankie Grande, who is an entertainer and producer.[9] Her family moved from New York to Florida before her birth, and her parents separated when she was eight or nine years old.[6] Grande had a close relationship with her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Grande.[10] At age 8, she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Florida Panthers' home game against the Chicago Blackhawks on January 16, 2002.[11]

As a young child, Grande performed with the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater,[12] playing her first role as the title character in the musical Annie. She also performed in their productions of The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast.[7][13] At age eight, she performed at a karaoke lounge on a cruise ship and with various orchestras such as South Florida's Philharmonic, Florida Sunshine Pops and Symphonic Orchestras.[14] During this time, she attended the Pine Crest School and later North Broward Preparatory.[15]

Career

[edit]

2008–2013: Career beginnings and Nickelodeon

[edit]

When she first arrived in Los Angeles, California, to meet with her managers, she expressed a desire to record an R&B album: "I was like, 'I want to make an R&B album,' They were like 'Um, that's a helluva goal! Who is going to buy a 14-year-old's R&B album?!'"[6] In 2008, Grande was cast as cheerleader Charlotte in the Broadway musical 13.[16][17]

Grande at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival

Grande was cast in the Nickelodeon television show Victorious along with 13 co-star Elizabeth Gillies in 2009.[18] In the sitcom, set at a performing arts high school, she played the "adorably dimwitted" Cat Valentine.[7][18] She had to dye her hair red every other week for the role, which damaged it.[19] The show premiered in March 2010 to the second-largest audience for a live-action series in Nickelodeon, with 5.7 million viewers.[20][21] The role helped propel Grande to teen idol status, but she was more interested in a music career, saying that acting is "fun, but music has always been first and foremost with me."[22]

After the first season of Victorious wrapped, Grande wanted to focus on her music career and began working on her debut album in August 2010.[23] The second season premiered in April 2011 to 6.2 million viewers, becoming the show's highest-rated episode.[24] In May 2011, Grande appeared in Greyson Chance's video for the song "Unfriend You" from his album Hold On 'til the Night (2011), portraying his ex-girlfriend. She made her first musical appearance on the track "Give It Up" from the Victorious soundtrack in August 2011. While filming Victorious, Grande made several recordings of herself singing covers of songs by Adele, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and uploaded them to YouTube.[25] A friend of Monte Lipman, chief executive officer (CEO) of Republic Records, came across one of the videos. Impressed by her vocals, he sent the links to Lipman, who signed her to a recording contract.[6] Grande voiced the title role in the English dub of the Spanish-language animated film Snowflake, the White Gorilla in November 2011.[26][27] From 2011 to 2013, she was cast in the role of fairy Princess Diaspro in the Nickelodeon revival of Winx Club.[28]

In December 2011, Grande released her first single, "Put Your Hearts Up", which was recorded for a potential teen-oriented pop album that was never issued. She later disowned the track for its bubblegum pop sound, saying she had no interest in recording music of that genre.[2] The song was later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[29] On a second soundtrack, Victorious 2.0, released on June 5, 2012, as an extended play, she supplied vocals as part of the show's cast for the song "5 Fingaz to the Face".[30] The third and final soundtrack, Victorious 3.0, was released on November 6, 2012, which featured a duet by Grande and Victoria Justice titled "L.A. Boyz", with an accompanying music video being released shortly after.[31] In December 2012, Grande collaborated on the single version of "Popular Song", a duet with British singer and songwriter Mika.[32]

After four seasons, Victorious was not renewed,[33] with the finale airing in February 2013. Grande starred as Snow White in the pantomime-style musical theatre production A Snow White Christmas with Charlene Tilton and Neil Patrick Harris at the Pasadena Playhouse.[34] She played Amanda Benson in Swindle, a 2013 Nickelodeon film adaptation of the children's book of the same name.[27][35] Meanwhile, Nickelodeon created Sam & Cat, an iCarly and Victorious spin-off starring Jennette McCurdy and Grande.[36] Grande and McCurdy reprised their roles as Cat Valentine and Sam Puckett on the buddy sitcom, which paired the characters as roommates who form an after-school babysitting business.[37]

2013–2015: Yours Truly and My Everything

[edit]
Grande in 2013

Grande released her debut album, Yours Truly, on August 30, 2013.[38] A pop and R&B record influenced by 1950s doo-wop, Yours Truly debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, with 138,000 copies sold in its first week.[39][40][41] Yours Truly also debuted in the top ten in several other countries, including Australia,[42] the UK,[43] Ireland,[44] and the Netherlands.[45] Its lead single, "The Way", featuring Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, debuted at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100,[46] eventually peaking at number nine for two weeks.[47] Grande was later sued by Minder Music for copying the line "What we gotta do right here is go back, back in time" from the 1972 song "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch.[48] The album's second single, "Baby I", was released in July.[49] Its third single, "Right There", featuring Detroit rapper Big Sean, was released in August 2013.[50] They respectively peaked at number 21 and 84 on the Billboard Hot 100.[51]

Grande recorded the duet "Almost Is Never Enough" with Nathan Sykes of The Wanted, which was released as a promotional single in August 2013. She also joined Justin Bieber on his Believe Tour for three shows and kicked off her own headlining mini-tour, The Listening Sessions.[52] At the 2013 American Music Awards, she won the award for New Artist of the Year.[53][54] She released a four-song Christmas EP, Christmas Kisses in December 2013.[55] Grande received the Breakthrough Artist of the Year award from the Music Business Association, recognizing her achievements throughout 2013.[56] By January 2014, Grande had begun recording her second studio album, with singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder and record producers Benny Blanco and Max Martin.[57] The same month, she earned the Favorite Breakout Artist award at the People's Choice Awards 2014.[56] In March 2014, Grande sang at the White House concert, "Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House".[58] The following month, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama invited Grande again to perform at the White House for the Easter Egg Roll event.[59]

Grande released her second studio album My Everything on August 25, 2014; it debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 169,000 copies and received generally positive reviews.[60][61] She explored EDM, dance-pop, and electro genres on the album.[62] Its lead single, "Problem" featuring Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100,[63] and became Grande's first number-one on the UK and New Zealand singles charts.[64][65] Selling 438,000 digital copies in its opening week, it achieved the highest first-week sales numbers of 2014[66] and made Grande the youngest woman, at 20 years old, to debut with over 400,000 downloads at the time.[67] "Problem" became 2014's eighth-best-selling digital single globally, with over 9 million copies sold, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[68] The album's second single, "Break Free", featuring German musician and producer Zedd,[69] was released on July 3 and reached number four in the United States.[70] She performed the song as the opening of the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, and won Best Pop Video for "Problem".[71] Grande and Nicki Minaj provided guest vocals on "Bang Bang", the lead single from Jessie J's album Sweet Talker,[72] which peaked at number one in the UK and at number three in the US.[70] The song was added to the deluxe version of My Everything, serving as the third single from the album.[73] It was certified diamond by the RIAA in May 2024, for selling over 10 million units in the US; it marked the first all-female collaboration to achieve the certification.[74] With the singles "Problem", "Break Free", and "Bang Bang", Grande became the second female artist in chart history, joining Adele, with three top-ten singles simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist.[70]

Grande was the musical performer on Saturday Night Live, with Chris Pratt as the host on September 27, 2014.[75] That same month, the fourth single from My Everything, "Love Me Harder", featuring Canadian recording artist the Weeknd, was released and peaked at number seven in the United States.[76] The song became her fourth top-ten single of 2014, the most by any artist that year.[77] In November 2014, Grande was featured in Major Lazer's song "All My Love" from the soundtrack album for the film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014).[78] Later that month, Grande released the Christmas song "Santa Tell Me" as a single from the reissue of her first Christmas EP, Christmas Kisses (2014).[79] The track became a modern Christmas standard, significantly rising in popularity on streaming services during the holiday season every year.[80] A decade after its release, it reached number five on the Hot 100 issue dated January 4, 2025—being the first Christmas song released in the 21st century to appear in the chart's top-five region.[81][82] The following month, she appeared on Nicki Minaj's third album The Pinkprint, with the song "Get on Your Knees". She later released the fifth and the final single from My Everything, "One Last Time", which peaked at number 13 in the US.[83]

Grande performing on The Honeymoon Tour in 2015

In February 2015, Grande embarked on her first worldwide concert tour, The Honeymoon Tour, to further promote My Everything, with shows in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.[84] Grande was featured on Cashmere Cat's song "Adore", which was released in March 2015.[85] In the spring, she signed an exclusive publishing contract with the Universal Music Publishing Group, covering her entire music catalog.[86] Grande also filmed an episode for the Fox Broadcasting Company reality TV series Knock Knock Live (2015),[87] but the show was canceled before her episode aired.[88] She also guest-starred on several episodes of the Fox comedy-horror television series Scream Queens as Sonya Herfmann/Chanel #2 from September to November 2015.[89] She recorded the duet "E Più Ti Penso" with Italian recording artist Andrea Bocelli, which was released in October 2015 as the lead single from Bocelli's album Cinema (2015),[90] and covered the song "Zero to Hero", originally from the animated film Hercules (1997), for the compilation album We Love Disney (2015).[91] Grande also released her second Christmas EP, Christmas & Chill in December 2015.[92]

2015–2018: Dangerous Woman and Sweetener

[edit]

Grande began recording songs for her third studio album, Dangerous Woman, originally titled Moonlight, in 2015.[93] In October of that year, she released the single "Focus", initially intended as the lead single from the album; the song debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.[94] The next month American singer Who Is Fancy released the single "Boys Like You", which features Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor.[95] She was featured in the remix version of "Over and Over Again", a song by English singer Nathan Sykes from his solo debut studio album Unfinished Business, which was released in January 2016.[96] In March 2016, Grande released "Dangerous Woman" as the lead single from the retitled album of the same name.[97][98] The single debuted at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist to have the lead single from each of their first three albums debut in the top ten.[99] The same month, Grande appeared as host and musical guest of Saturday Night Live, where she performed "Dangerous Woman" and debuted the promotional single "Be Alright",[100] which charted at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.[101] Grande garnered positive reviews for her appearance on the show, including praise for her impressions of various singers,[102][103] some of which she had done on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[104]

Grande performing on the Dangerous Woman Tour in 2017

Grande released Dangerous Woman on May 20, 2016, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200.[105] It also debuted at number two in Japan,[106] and at number one in several other markets, including Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and the UK.[107][108] Mark Savage, writing for BBC News, called the album "a mature, confident record".[7] In August, Grande released a third single from the album, "Side to Side", featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, her eighth top ten entry on the Hot 100, which peaked at number four on that chart.[109] Dangerous Woman was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and the title track for Best Pop Solo Performance.[110]

Aside from music, Grande played Penny Pingleton in the NBC television broadcast Hairspray Live!, which aired in December 2016.[111] Grande recorded the title track of the soundtrack for the 2017 live-action remake of Disney's 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast. The recording was released as a duet with American singer John Legend in February 2017.[112] The same month, Grande embarked on her third concert tour, the Dangerous Woman Tour, to promote the album.[113]

On May 22, 2017, her concert at Manchester Arena was the target of a suicide bombing. An Islamic extremist, motivated by Muslim casualties from US intervention in the Syrian Civil War, detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the arena. The Manchester Arena bombing, which occurred at the City Room, caused 22 deaths and injured hundreds more. Grande suspended the remainder of the tour and held a televised benefit concert, One Love Manchester, on June 4,[114] helping to raise $23 million to aid the bombing's victims and affected families.[115] The concert featured performances from Grande, as well as Liam Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and other artists.[116] To recognize her efforts, the Manchester City Council named Grande the first honorary citizen of Manchester[117][115] and, later in the year, she was reported to have declined an honorary UK damehood. The tour resumed on June 7 in Paris and ended in September 2017.[118][119]

In August 2017, Grande appeared in an Apple Music Carpool Karaoke episode, singing musical theatre songs with American entertainer Seth MacFarlane.[120] In December 2017, Billboard magazine named her "Female Artist of the Year".[121]

Grande began working on songs for her fourth studio album, Sweetener with Pharrell Williams in 2016.[122] Grande released "No Tears Left to Cry" as the lead single from Sweetener in April 2018,[123] with the song debuting at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, making Grande the only artist to have debuted the lead single of her first four albums in the top ten of the Hot 100.[124][125] In June 2018, she was featured in "Bed", the second single from Nicki Minaj's fourth studio album Queen.[126] The same month, she was featured on Troye Sivan's single "Dance to This" from his sophomore album Bloom. The second single, "God Is a Woman",[127][128] peaked at number 8 on the Hot 100 and became Grande's tenth top ten single in the US.[129] Released in August 2018,[130] Sweetener debuted at number one on the Billboard 200[131] and received acclaim from critics.[132] She simultaneously charted nine songs from the album on the Hot 100, along with a collaboration, making her the fourth female artist to reach the ten-song mark.[129] Grande gave four concerts to promote the album, billed as The Sweetener Sessions, in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London between August 20 and September 4, 2018.[133] In October 2018, Grande participated in the NBC broadcast, A Very Wicked Halloween, singing "The Wizard and I" from the musical Wicked.[134] The following month, the BBC aired a one-hour special, Ariana Grande at the BBC, featuring interviews and performances.[135][136]

Grande performs "God Is A Woman" at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City.

2018–2019: Thank U, Next

[edit]

In November 2018, Grande released the single "Thank U, Next" and announced her fifth studio album of the same name.[137][138] The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's first chart-topping single in the United States, spending seven non-consecutive weeks atop.[139][140] Since then, it has been certified eight-times platinum in the United States;[141] the song's music video broke records for most-watched music video on YouTube within 24 hours of release[142] and fastest Vevo video to reach 100 million views on YouTube, at the time.[143] On Spotify, it became the fastest song to reach 100 million streams (11 days) and most-streamed song by a female artist in a 24-hour period, with 9.6 million streams, before being surpassed by her own "7 Rings" (nearly 15 million streams).[144] "Thank U, Next" was the most-streamed song by a woman globally on Apple Music in 2019.[145]

Grande released, in collaboration with YouTube, a four-part docuseries titled Ariana Grande: Dangerous Woman Diaries. It shows behind the scenes and concert footage from Grande's Dangerous Woman Tour, including moments from the One Love Manchester concert, and follows her professional life during the tour and the making of Sweetener. The series debuted on November 29, 2018.[146] By the end of the year, she became the most-streamed female artist on Spotify,[147] and was named Billboard's Woman of the Year. In January 2019, it was announced that Grande would be headlining the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival,[148] where she became the youngest and the fourth female artist ever to headline the festival.[149] Grande brought a number of guest artists to perform with her, including NSYNC, P. Diddy, Nicki Minaj, and Justin Bieber. Her set received critical acclaim.[150][151]

Grande's second single from Thank U, Next, "7 Rings", was released on January 18, 2019, and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 issue dated February 2, becoming her second single in a row (and overall) to top the charts.[152] It made Grande the third female artist with multiple number-one debuts after Mariah Carey (3) and Britney Spears (2) and fifth artist overall after Justin Bieber and Drake.[153] Spending eight non-consecutive weeks at the summit, it became Grande's most successful song on the chart[154] and was certified diamond in the US.[155] "7 Rings" became 2019's fifth-best-selling song globally, and one of the best-selling digital singles worldwide.[156] Thank U, Next was released on February 8, 2019, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 while receiving acclaim from critics.[157] The album garnered Grande's largest sales week of all time in the United States (360,000 album-equivalent units).[158] Her fourth number-one album, and second in less than six months, it marked the shortest gap between number-one albums for a woman at the time. Thank U, Next broke records for the largest streaming week for a pop album and for a female album in the US, with 307 million on-demand streams.[158] At the time, it was the only non-hip hop title among the twenty largest US album streaming weeks, at number eight.[158] The album also achieved the largest streaming week by a female artist in Canada and the United Kingdom.[159][160] In June 2020, Thank U, Next was certified double platinum by the RIAA.[161]

Grande became the first solo artist to occupy the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 with "7 Rings" at number one, her third single "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" debuting at number two, and her lead single "Thank U, Next" rose to number three, and the overall second artist to do so since the Beatles did in 1964 when they occupied the top five spots.[162] In the United Kingdom, Grande became the second female solo artist to simultaneously hold the number one and two spots and the first musical artist to replace herself at number one, twice consecutively.[163] With eleven Thank U, Next tracks appearing within the top 40 region on the Hot 100, Grande broke the record for the most simultaneous top 40 entries by a female artist.[164]

In February 2019, it was reported Grande would not attend the Grammy Awards after she had a disagreement with producers over a potential performance at the ceremony.[165] Grande ended up earning her first Grammy, for Best Pop Vocal Album, for Sweetener.[166] The same month, Grande won a Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist.[167] She also embarked on her third headlining tour, the Sweetener World Tour, to promote both Sweetener and Thank U, Next, which began on March 18,[168] and concluded on December 22, 2019.[169] Spanning 97 shows through North America and Europe, it grossed US$146.6 million with over 1.3 million tickets sold, marking Grande's highest-grossing and biggest tour to date.[170] A live album of the tour's setlist, titled K Bye for Now (SWT Live), was released on December 23.[171] Grande was nominated for 9 awards at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist. She would win two awards for Billboard Chart Achievement and Top Female Artist on May 1, 2019.[172] Grande performed at the event via a pre-recorded performance from her Sweetener World Tour.[173]

Grande co-executive produced the soundtrack to the film Charlie's Angels, which was released on November 1, 2019; she co-wrote and performed various songs for the record.[174] The soundtrack was met with lukewarm reception.[175][176] A collaboration with Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey, titled "Don't Call Me Angel", was released as the lead single on September 13.[177] Pitchfork wrote that the pop stars "meet at a lower creative common denominator than they've enjoyed lately".[178] The track was nominated for Best Original Song at the 24th Satellite Awards.[179] In August 2019, she released the single "Boyfriend" with pop duo Social House;[180] it debuted at number eight on the Hot 100,[181] and became the first song by a woman to top the Rolling Stone Top 100 chart.[182] Grande co-wrote singer Normani's debut solo single "Motivation", which was released on August 16, 2019.[183] Grande won three awards at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, including the Artist of the Year award. She was nominated for 12 awards in total, including Video of the Year for "Thank U, Next".[184]

Grande was featured on the remix of American singer and rapper Lizzo's song "Good as Hell", which was released on October 25, 2019.[185] By the end of the year, Billboard named Grande the most accomplished female artist to debut in the 2010s, while NME named her one of the defining music artists of the decade. She also became the most-streamed female artist of the decade on music streaming service Spotify.[186][187][188] Also, Forbes ranked her amongst the highest-paid celebrities in 2019, placing at number 62 on the list,[189] while Billboard ranked her as 2019's highest-paid solo musician.[190] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Thank U, Next was the eighth-best-selling album of 2019 globally, having sold over one million copies worldwide.[191] It also ranked as the second-best-performing album on the Billboard 200 year-end chart of 2019.[192]

2020–2023: Positions

[edit]

In January 2020, Grande received multiple nominations at the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards, including Female Artist of the Year.[193] At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Grande performed a medley of "Imagine", "My Favorite Things", "7 Rings", and "Thank U, Next".[194] Her performance was ranked by various publications among the best of the ceremony.[195] Grande received the third-most nominations (5), including her first nods for Album of the Year (Thank U, Next) and Record of the Year ("7 Rings").[196] She was named by Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter as one of the biggest snubs of the ceremony.[197][198] Grande and Justin Bieber released a collaboration song titled "Stuck with U" on May 8, 2020; net proceeds from the sales of the song were donated to the First Responders Children's Foundation in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.[199] The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's third chart-topping single. Alongside Bieber, both artists tied Mariah Carey and Drake for the most songs to debut at number one on the Hot 100; Grande became the first artist to have her first three number ones debut at the top, following "Thank U, Next" and "7 Rings".[200]

Grande appeared on Lady Gaga's "Rain on Me", the second single from Gaga's sixth studio album Chromatica.[201] The song also debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's fourth number-one single and helping her break the record for the most number-one debuts on that chart.[202] It won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.[203] In 2020, Grande became the highest-earning woman in music on Forbes's 2020 Celebrity 100 list, placing 17th overall with $72 million.[204] At the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, she was nominated for nine awards for both "Stuck with U" (with Bieber) and "Rain on Me" (with Gaga). For the latter, Grande received her third consecutive nomination for Video of the Year. She won four awards, including Song of the Year for "Rain on Me".[205][206]

Grande's sixth studio album, Positions, was released on October 30, 2020.[207] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 174,000 units, becoming Grande's fifth number-one album.[208] Her third chart-topping album in two years and three months, it marked the fastest accumulation of three number-oe albums by a woman at that time.[208] Following its vinyl LPs release in April 2021, Positions achieved the largest vinyl sales week (32,000) by a female artist since MRC Data's inauguration in 1991, at that time.[209] The eponymous lead single was released on October 23.[210] It debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's fifth chart-topping single and breaking numerous records. Grande became the first artist to have five number-one debuts on the Hot 100 and the first to have their first five number-ones debut at the top. "Positions" became her third number-one single in 2020 following "Stuck with U" and "Rain on Me", making Grande the first artist since Drake to have three number-one singles in a single calendar year and the first female artist to do so since Rihanna and Katy Perry in 2010.[211] It topped the Pop Airplay chart for seven weeks, surpassing "7 Rings" (six weeks) as Grande's longest-running number-one on the chart.[212]

Alongside the release of Positions, the track "34+35" served as the second single off the album. Debuting at number eight, it became Grande's 18th top-ten single.[213] Grande released a "34+35" remix featuring American rappers Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion on January 15, 2021. The remix helped the song reach a new peak at number two, the highest-charting song credited to three or more female soloists on the Hot 100 since Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink and Lil' Kim's "Lady Marmalade" in 2001.[214] The remix was one of five bonus tracks included on the deluxe edition of Positions, released on February 19, 2021.[215] On the Pop Airplay chart issue dated February 13, "34+35" replaced Grande's own "Positions" at number one, making her the first artist to replace herself at the summit as the only act credited on both tracks.[212] On the following chart issue, Grande occupied the top two of the chart with "34+35" and "Positions", becoming the first artist to simultaneously occupy the top two with two solo tracks.[212][216] "34+35" remained at number one for three consecutive weeks;[217] it also topped the Rhythmic airplay chart, marking Grande's third leader.[218] In March, the song "POV" was sent to radio as the album's third single. The song reached number 27 on the Hot 100 and the top ten on mainstream radio, making Grande the first artist to have three concurrent songs in the top ten on Pop Airplay; it later peaked at number three.[219]

Grande was named the most-played artist on iHeartRadio's stations in 2021, reaching 2.6 billion in audience.[220] Positions ranked at number eight on the 2021 year-end Billboard 200 chart.[221] On November 13, 2020, Grande made a surprise appearance on the Adult Swim Festival, performing music artist Thundercat's song "Them Changes" alongside him, which Grande had previously covered.[222] Grande and Jennifer Hudson also featured on a remix of Mariah Carey's 2010 Christmas song "Oh Santa!". The song was released on December 4, 2020, as part of Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special.[223] Grande released the concert film for her Sweetener World Tour, Excuse Me, I Love You, on December 21, 2020, exclusively on Netflix.[224]

In April 2021, Grande was featured on a remix of the Weeknd's "Save Your Tears".[225] The remix reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100, becoming both artists' sixth number-one single on both charts.[226] It also topped the Billboard Global 200, marking Grande's second number-one single on the chart; it made her the first woman to earn multiple leaders on the chart.[227] She joined Paul McCartney as the only artists to earn three number-one duets on the Hot 100.[228] With 69 weeks, the remix became one of the ten songs with the most total weeks on the chart, and Grande's longest-charting song in the United States.[229] It ranked as the second best-performing song of the year on the Billboard year-end Hot 100, Global 200, and Global Excl. US charts of 2021.[230][231][232] Grande and the Weeknd performed "Save Your Tears" together at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards.[233]

In June 2021, Grande featured on the song "I Don't Do Drugs" from Doja Cat's third studio album Planet Her.[234] Her contribution as a songwriter and featured artist on the song earned Grande a nomination for Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. In September 2021, she joined as a coach of the twenty-first season of The Voice; Grande became the highest-paid coach in the show's history, earning a reported $25 million for that season.[235] The season concluded in December 2021; Grande did not return for the next season.[236] Later in December, she appeared in Adam McKay's film Don't Look Up, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Meryl Streep. With streams of more than 152 million hours in a week, it broke the record for the biggest viewership week in Netflix history, at the time.[237] To promote the film, Grande released the song "Just Look Up", in collaboration with rapper Kid Cudi, on December 3, 2021.[238] At the 27th Critics' Choice Awards, Grande received nominations in the categories Best Song and Best Acting Ensemble, as a part of the cast.[239] She also received a nomination at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.[240]

On February 24, 2023, following months-long renewed interest in and virality of the Weeknd's 2016 song "Die for You", a remix of the song with Grande was released. The remix marked their fourth collaboration.[241] In the Billboard Hot 100 issue dated March 11, 2023, the remix reached the top of the chart, becoming both artists' seventh number-one hit.[242] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), it was the fourth best-selling song of 2023 globally.[243] On August 25, 2023, Grande released a reissue of her debut studio album, Yours Truly (Tenth Anniversary Edition).[244][245] On December 9, 2023, Grande and Jennifer Hudson made a surprise appearance onstage to sing the "Oh Santa!" remix at Mariah Carey's show at the Madison Square Garden, of her Merry Christmas One and All! tour.[246]

2024–present: Eternal Sunshine and Wicked

[edit]
Grande in 2024

Grande's seventh studio album, titled Eternal Sunshine, was released on March 8, 2024. It was preceded by its lead single, "Yes, And?", released on January 12, 2024.[247] The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100,[248] topped the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. US charts for two weeks,[249] and was followed by a remix featuring Mariah Carey on February 16.[250] The second single, "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", was released in tandem with the album.[251] Grande's first album in over three years,[252] Eternal Sunshine marked her first major foray into dance and house music.[253][254] Met with universal acclaim, critics dubbed it one of her most mature and sophisticated records yet.[255] Both the album and its second single debuted atop the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 respectively,[256] achieving Grande's third-largest sales week (227,000 units) and making her the woman with the most Hot 100 number-one debuts (7).[257][258] Elsewhere, the album debuted at number one in thirteen countries, including Australia,[259] Canada,[260] and the UK.[261] With Eternal Sunshine and Thank U, Next, Grande became the first woman to have two albums produce multiple number-one single debuts in the US.[256] It also marked her first instance of reaching the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts.[262] Topping the Pop Airplay chart for two weeks,[263] "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" marked Grande's tenth number-one.[264]

On May 6, 2024, Grande performed at the Met Gala, and was joined on stage by Cynthia Erivo to close out her performance.[265] "The Boy Is Mine", which reached the top 20 on the Hot 100,[266] was released as the third Eternal Sunshine single in June;[267] a remix featuring Brandy and Monica followed later that month.[268] On August 22, 2024, Grande released a reissue of her second studio album, My Everything, for the tenth anniversary of the record.[269] Two extended editions of Eternal Sunshine containing the pre-released single remixes, guest vocals from Troye Sivan, and live versions of several tracks, were surprise released in March and October.[270][271] Grande appeared on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest on March 9, 2024 to promote Eternal Sunshine.[272] Grande featured on the remix to "Sympathy Is a Knife" on Charli XCX's remix album Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, released on October 11, 2024.[273] On the Las Culturistas podcast, Grande acknowledged that she would likely scale back her pop music output compared to earlier in her career, shifting her focus more towards acting.[274] Eternal Sunshine was ranked as 2024's thirteenth-best-selling and ninth-most-streamed album globally by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[275]

At the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, Grande was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album (Eternal Sunshine), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance ("The Boy Is Mine" remix), and Best Dance Pop Recording ("Yes, And?").[276] Grande released Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, a reissue of Eternal Sunshine, on March 28, 2025.[277] She starred as the protagonist Peaches in the accompanying short film Brighter Days Ahead, which she directed and wrote with Christian Breslauer and was released on the same day. The short film also marked her directorial debut.[278] With the release of the reissue, Eternal Sunshine became Grande's longest-running number one album in the US (three weeks).[279] Aided by Brighter Days Ahead, the album returned to the top of the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, over a year after its release.[280] The bonus track "Twilight Zone" was released as the reissue's lead single in April 2025, reaching the top ten on the Billboard Global 200 and the UK singles chart.[281][282] Later that month, Grande featured on Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra's jazz album Still Blooming for a rendition of the song "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)".[283] Grande and Mariah Carey joined Barbra Streisand on "One Heart, One Voice" for Streisand's album The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two, released on June 27, 2025.[284] Whilst describing the three as "the holy trinity of glorious sound", Melissa Ruggieri of USA Today called the track an "otherwise generic ballad [that] showcases a trio steeped in restraint".[285]

Grande starred as Galinda Upland, alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, in the two-part film adaptation of the fantasy musical Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu.[286] She was cast in November 2021, and had auditioned five times for the role.[287][288] She was credited with her birth name Ariana Grande-Butera, which was her name when she first saw the stage musical at age 10.[289] Grande reported that she began taking acting and singing lessons months before she auditioned for the role of Glinda because she wanted to be cast "so badly".[290] The first part, Wicked, was theatrically released on November 22, 2024.[291] A critical and commercial success, it was listed amongst the best musical and fantasy films of the 21st century by various media,[292] grossed US$756 million worldwide, and became the highest-grossing musical adaptation film of all time.[293] Grande's performance and comedic timing received praise from critics;[294] she was nominated for supporting actress categories at the 97th Academy Awards, 82nd Golden Globe Awards, the 30th Critics' Choice Awards, the 78th British Academy Film Awards, and the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards.[295] To promote Wicked, she hosted Saturday Night Live on October 12, 2024.[296][297] The episode drew the show's highest ratings since May 2021 and became its most-watched episode on Peacock and social media.[298] The film's accompanying soundtrack was co-billed to Grande, who performed seven songs from the musical.[299] It was met with positive reception and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 139,000 units, marking the highest debut for a soundtrack to a stage-to-film adaptation.[300][301] On March 2, 2025, Grande and her Wicked co-star Erivo opened the 97th Academy Awards ceremony with a medley of "Over the Rainbow", "Home", and "Defying Gravity".[302] The second part of the film adaptation, Wicked: For Good, is scheduled for November 21.[303]

Grande's other upcoming film projects include Focker In-Law (2026)[304] and an animated film adaptation of Dr. Seuss's 1990 book Oh, the Places You'll Go!, slated for release in March 2028.[305] She will embark on the Eternal Sunshine Tour, her first concert tour since 2019, with 41 shows between June and September 2026.[306][307]

Artistry

[edit]

Musical style

[edit]

Grande's music is generally pop and R&B with elements of EDM, hip hop,[308][309] and trap,[310] the latter first appearing prominently on her Christmas & Chill extended play. While consistently maintaining pop and R&B tones, she has increasingly incorporated trap into her music as her career has progressed,[311] thanks to her work with record producer Tommy Brown.[312] She has collaborated with Brown on every album thus far and stated that "one of the things I love most about working with Tommy is that none of the beats he plays me ever sound the same."[313] Grande learned how to sound engineer and produce her own vocals because she "love[s] being hands on" with every project, revealing that rapper Mac Miller first taught her how to use the digital audio workstation Pro Tools.[314] Collaborator Justin Tranter remarked that he felt inspired seeing how involved Grande is in creating her music "from the writing to the vision to the storytelling and to even engineering and comping her own vocals."[315] She has co-written songs addressing a wide variety of themes, such as love, sex, wealth, breakups, independence, empowerment, self-love and moving on from the past.[316]

Grande's debut album Yours Truly was complimented for recreating the R&B "vibe and feel of the 90s" with the help of songwriter and producer Babyface.[317] Her follow-up record, My Everything, explored EDM and electropop genres.[318] Grande expanded the pop and R&B sound on her third album, Dangerous Woman, which was praised by the Los Angeles Times for integrating elements of different styles, such as reggae-pop ("Side to Side"), dance-pop ("Be Alright"), and guitar-trap fusion ("Sometimes").[319] Trap-pop was more heavily featured on her fourth and fifth studio albums, Sweetener and Thank U, Next.[311] Elias Leight of Rolling Stone opined that Grande "set her sights on conquering trap, savage basslines and jittery swarms of drum programming" and "embrace[d] the sound of hard-bitten Southern hip-hop" on Sweetener, exploring funk music with themes of love and prosperity.[320][321] Craig Jenkins of Vulture noted that she embraced trap and hip hop with undertones of R&B on Thank U, Next,[322] with lyrics about breakups, empowerment, and self-love.[321] Her sixth album, Positions, further emphasized the R&B and trap-pop sound of its two predecessors, with lyrics discussing sex and romance.[323][324]

Influences

[edit]
Mariah Carey
Whitney Houston
Grande credits Mariah Carey (left) and Whitney Houston (right) as her major vocal influences.

Grande grew up listening mainly to urban pop and 1990s music.[325] She credited Gloria Estefan with inspiring her to pursue a music career after Estefan saw and complimented Grande's performance on a cruise ship when she was eight years old.[326] Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are her primary vocal influences: "I love Mariah Carey. She is literally my favorite human being on the planet. And of course Whitney [Houston] as well. As far as vocal influences go, Whitney and Mariah pretty much cover it."[327] Grande was also influenced vocally by Destiny's Child, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, and Madonna.[328][329] She reflected on her childhood by posting videos of herself singing songs from Dion's 1997 album Let's Talk About Love on her social media.[330] Grande credits Madonna with "pav[ing] the way for me and also every other female artist" and admitted to being "obsessed with her entire discography".[331][332]

Musically, Grande admires India Arie because her "music makes me feel like everything is going to be okay", loves Brandy Norwood's songs because "her riffs are incredibly on point", and praised Imogen Heap's "intricate" song structure.[321] Heap in particular Grande has said is her favorite musician, songwriter, and producer of all time.[333][334] Grande also named Judy Garland as a childhood influence, admiring her ability to tell "a story when she sings".[321] Ahead of the release of her debut album, Grande says its sound was inspired by Heap, Carey, Fergie, and Houston.[335] Music producer and collaborator Savan Kotecha stated that he and Grande were influenced by Lauryn Hill when creating her fourth album Sweetener and its lead single "No Tears Left to Cry".[336] Kotecha told Variety, "we were listening to Lauryn Hill about chord changes and why we stick to four chords all the time".[337]

Grande expressed admiration for rappers' unconventional music release strategy. She told Billboard, "My dream has always been to be—obviously not a rapper, but, like, to put out music in the way that a rapper does. I feel like there are certain standards that pop women are held to that men aren't ... It's just like, 'Bruh, I just want to ... drop [music] the way these boys do."[338] It inspired her to release "Thank U, Next" without any prior announcement, which The Ringer called "more of a Drake move than an Ariana Grande move".[339]

Voice

[edit]

Grande has been described as a soprano,[340][341][342] possessing a four-octave vocal range[7][343] and a whistle register.[344] With the release of Yours Truly, critics compared Grande's wide vocal range and music to those of Mariah Carey.[345][346] Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Billboard wrote that both Carey and Grande have "the talent to let their vocals do the talking ... that's not where the similarities end. ... Grande is subverting it with cute, comfortable, and on-trend dresses with a feminine slant."[347]

Mark Savage of BBC News named Grande "one of pop's most intriguing and gifted singers" and complimented her "unrivalled vocal control".[7] In The New York Times, Jon Pareles noted that Grande's voice "can be silky, breathy or cutting, swooping through long melismas or jabbing out short R&B phrases; it's always supple and airborne, never forced."[348] Composer and playwright Jason Robert Brown wrote in a 2016 Time magazine article, "[N]o matter how much you are underestimated ... you are going to open your mouth and that unbelievable sound is going to come out. That [...] instrument [...] allows you to shut down every objection and every obstacle."[349]

Grande's enunciation has drawn some criticism,[350] particularly on her earlier recordings.[351][352][353] Grande herself has acknowledged this on multiple occasions, admitting in 2015 that pronunciation was something she hoped to improve.[354] However, several critics noted a marked improvement on Eternal Sunshine,[353][355] with some attributing the clearer diction to her extensive vocal training for Wicked.[356][357]

Public image

[edit]
Waxwork of Grande at Madame Tussauds, Bangkok

Grande cited Audrey Hepburn as a major style influence in her early career; however, she later found emulating Hepburn's style "a little boring".[358] She also drew inspiration from actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Ann-Margret, Nancy Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe.[358] Grande's modest look early in her career was described as "age appropriate" in comparison to contemporary artists who grew up in the public eye.[347] Jim Farber of New York's New York Daily News wrote in 2014 that Grande received less attention "for how little she wears or how graphically she moves than for how she sings."[359] That year, she abandoned her earlier style in favor of short skirts and crop tops with knee-high boots in live performances and red carpet events.[360] She also began regularly wearing cat and bunny ears and, subsequently, oversized jackets and hoodies.[361][362] Grande's style is often imitated by social media influencers and celebrities.[363][364] After years of dyeing her hair red for her role as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon, Grande wore extensions as her hair recovered from damage.[365] Anne T. Donahue of MTV News noted that her "iconic" high ponytail has received more attention than her fashion choices.[366]

Although Grande drew criticism for alleged impolite interactions with reporters and fans in 2014,[367] she dismissed the reports as "weird, inaccurate depictions".[4] Rolling Stone wrote: "Some may cry 'diva', but it's also Grande just taking a stand to not allow others to control her image."[368] In July 2015, Grande sparked controversy after being seen on surveillance video in a doughnut shop licking doughnuts that were on display and saying "I hate Americans. I hate America. This is disgusting", referring to a tray of doughnuts.[369] She subsequently apologized, saying that she is "extremely proud to be an American" and that her comments rather referred to obesity in the United States.[370] She later released a video apology for "behaving poorly".[371] The incident was parodied by The Muppets.[372] Grande herself poked fun at the incident while hosting Saturday Night Live in 2016, saying, "A lot of kid stars end up doing drugs, or in jail, or pregnant, or get caught licking a doughnut they didn't pay for."[7][373] In 2020, she admitted to refraining from interviews for a while out of fear of being labeled a "diva" and that her words would be misconstrued.[374]

With a large following on social media, Grande is one of the most influential celebrities on the internet.[375][376] As of October 2025, her YouTube channel has over 56 million subscribers, making her among the third-most-subscribed female solo act and fourth-most-subscribed woman on the platform.[377] Her music videos have been viewed a total of over 29 billion times, with eight of them reaching over one billion views;[378][379] two of them have surpassed over two billion views,[380] with Grande's highest-viewed video having over 2.3 billion views on YouTube.[381] Her Spotify profile has over 106 million followers,[382] making her the sixth-most-followed artist and third-most-followed woman.[383] She is the sixth-most-followed individual on Instagram,[384] and was the first woman to surpass 150 million and 200 million followers on the platform.[385][386] She was the most-followed woman on the platform from February 2019 to January 2022.[387][388] In December 2021, Grande deleted her Twitter account, which was one of the most-followed accounts on the platform.[389][390] She explained that she "always wanted to say things to [her] fans that were meant for just [her] fans [...] sometimes it would travel in a way that it wasn't intended to [...] where people who don't speak our language would kind of become involved in a weird, strange way. I think I was just so sensitive [and] it started taking toll on my relationship to work. I wanted to prioritize being an artist and having a healthy relationship to my fans and to art".[391] However, she stated that she is "very much [an] 'on the internet' person".[391]

Often regarded as a pop icon and triple threat entertainer,[392][393] wax figures of Grande are found at Madame Tussauds museums in various cities around the world, including New York City,[394] Orlando, Florida,[395] Amsterdam,[396] Bangkok,[397] Sydney,[398] Berlin,[399] London,[400] Vienna,[401] Hollywood,[402] Hong Kong.[403] and Blackpool.[404]

Recognition

[edit]
Grande in 2017
Grande performing on the Dangerous Woman Tour

In 2016 and 2019, Grande was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world.[349][405] In 2017, Celia Almeida of the Miami New Times wrote that of all the biggest pop stars of the past 20 years, Grande made the most convincing transition "from ingénue to an independent female artist".[406] Bloomberg News named her the "first pop diva of the streaming generation" in 2020.[407] Regarded as a pop icon, Grande was nicknamed "Princess of Pop" by Guinness World Records.[408] Due to her 2014 song "Santa Tell Me" becoming a 21st-century Christmas standard and having a lasting impact, Grande was dubbed the "Princess of Christmas".[409][410]

Grande was also included in Pitchfork's list of "The 200 Most Important Artists of Pitchfork's First 25 Years" for "emerging with music that pushed her artistry further as it asserted a magical trifecta of hope, joy, and a powerhouse voice".[411] Her song "Thank U, Next" was ranked number 137 in Rolling Stone's 2021 revision of their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[412] while its parent album was ranked number 61 in their "250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century".[413] In 2023, the magazine ranked Grande among the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, at number 43.[414] The Hollywood Reporter named her as one of its "Platinum Power Players" in music in 2024.[415] In May 2024, Katy Perry declared Grande to be "the best singer of our generation".[416] Billboard ranked Grande at number nine on its 2024 "Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century" list,[417] and at number eight on its 2025 list of the "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century".[418]

Recording artists who have cited Grande as an influence or inspiration include Billie Eilish,[419] Breanna Yde,[420] Bryson Tiller,[421] Chappell Roan,[422] Charlie Puth,[423] Giselle of Aespa,[424] Grace VanderWaal,[425] Jungkook of BTS,[426] Lana Del Rey,[427] Madison Beer,[364] Maggie Lindemann,[428] Meghan Trainor,[429] Melanie Martinez,[430] Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast,[431] Sufjan Stevens,[432] Tate McRae,[433] Troye Sivan,[434] and Zara Larsson.[435]

Achievements

[edit]

Grande has sold over 90 million records worldwide,[436] making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. All of Grande's studio albums have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and have spent at least one year charting on the Billboard 200 chart. Her highest-certified album by the RIAA is My Everything, at quadruple platinum,[437] whilst her longest-charting album, Thank U, Next, has spent 171 non-consecutive weeks on the chart.[438] Grande has accumulated 13 million albums and 107 million digital singles units as a lead artist in the United States,[439] making her the 14th-highest-certified artist and fifth-highest-certified female artist on RIAA's Top Artists (Digital Singles) ranking.[440] With 120 million units combined (songs and albums), she is the 24th-highest-certified artist, overall, and sixth among women.[441] In the US, Grande has moved 22.4 million album units, and garnered over 23.6 billion streams across lead artist credits, as of 2023, according to Luminate.[442][443] Two of her songs have been certified diamond by the RIAA: "Bang Bang" (with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj) and "7 Rings".[444] She is one of the best-selling female artists in the UK, with over 36 million certified units as of 2025.[445]

Having had 98 billion streams globally as of 2021, Grande is one of the most-streamed artists of all time and was the first female artist to surpass 90 billion streams.[287][446] She was the most-streamed female artist of the 2010s decade on Spotify, being the only woman in the overall top five.[145] She was also the most-streamed female act on Apple Music as of 2019, and was the first female act to reach 3 billion total streams on the platform.[447] In the US, Grande was the most-streamed female artist and fourth-most-streamed artist overall of the 2010s decade, across audio and video services; being the only woman and non-rapper in the top five.[448] She became the most-streamed female artist of all time on Spotify in 2020, surpassing Rihanna, and held the record for over two years.[449] As of 2025, Grande is the second-most-streamed woman and the seventh-most-streamed act on Spotify, with over 59 billion streams across all credits (including 50 billion streams as a lead artist). She is the second woman in the platform's history to have 40 and 50 billion streams.[450] Her songs and albums are some of the most-streamed of all time. Grande became the first woman with one and two billion streams with one album,[451] 3.5 billion streams on three separate albums,[452] and the first artist to have five albums with four billion streams.[453] Grande has 21 songs that have surpassed over one billion streams on Spotify, making her the female artist with the most songs to have achieved the feat;[454] she was the first woman to have 14 and 21 songs surpass the mark.[455][456]

In 2024, Grande became the first artist to have five albums with multiple songs over a billion streams on the streaming platform.[457] That year, she also became the first woman with over 123 million monthly listeners on the app, achieving the highest number for a female act at the time.[458] Grande is the sixth-most-followed artist and third-most-followed female artist on Spotify, with over 106 million followers;[383] she is the fourth artist in the streaming service's history to surpass 100 million followers.[459] Her 2014 single "Santa Tell Me" is the most-streamed Christmas song released in the 2010s—and third-most-streamed overall—on Spotify; the most successful holiday song released in the 21st century; and the eighth-most successful holiday song of all time.[460][461] Grande is the third-most-subscribed female soloist on YouTube, with over 56 million subscribers.[377] Eight of her music videos have surpassed over one billion views; two of them have received over two billion views on the app.[379][380]

Grande has won two Grammy Awards,[110][462] one Brit Award,[463] thirteen MTV Video Music Awards (the fifth-most wins among women),[464][465] three MTV Europe Music Awards,[466] and three American Music Awards.[467] She has received 42 Billboard Music Award nominations and won 2 in 2019, including Top Female Artist.[172] Grande has won eleven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, including one in 2014 for Favorite TV Actress for her performance on Sam & Cat,[468] and one in 2025 for Favorite Movie Actress for her performance in Wicked.[469] She has three People's Choice Awards.[470] In 2014, she received the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award from the Music Business Association[56] and Best Newcomer at the Bambi Awards.[471] She has won six iHeartRadio Music Awards[472] and twelve Teen Choice Awards.[473] She was named Billboard Women in Music's Rising Star in 2014[474] and Woman of the Year in 2018,[475] the greatest pop star of 2019, with honorable mentions in 2014 and 2018; and the most successful female artist to debut in the 2010s by Billboard.[186][476] Grande was named as one of the ten best-selling global recording artists of 2018, 2019, and 2020 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), being the highest-ranked woman of 2018 (number eight).[477][478][479] The IFPI ranked her as 2024's eleventh-best-selling recording artist globally.[275] For acting, Grande has earned an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Satellite Award nomination each.

Nine singles by Grande have topped the Billboard Hot 100, her most recent being "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)".[257] Grande has a total of twenty-three top-ten songs on the chart, which includes sixteen top-ten debuts thus far, beginning with her first single "The Way"; the lead single from each of her first seven studio albums have debuted in the top ten, making her the only artist to achieve this.[480] In 2020, she became the first act to have her first five number-one singles, "Thank U, Next", "7 Rings", "Stuck With U", "Rain on Me", and "Positions" debut at number one; that year, Grande also broke the record for the most number one debuts and became the first female artist topping Global 200, Global 200 Excl. US and Hot 100 simultaneously.[202] Grande would also become the first artist to have three singles debut at number one on a single calendar year.[211] She later broke the record for most simultaneously charting songs on the top 40 of the Hot 100 for a female artist with the release of her fifth studio album, Thank U, Next, when eleven of the twelve tracks charted within the region (later surpassed by Billie Eilish).[164]

The three singles from Thank U, Next, "7 Rings", "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored", and "Thank U, Next" charted at numbers one, two, and three respectively on the week of February 23, 2019, making Grande the first solo artist to occupy the top three spots of the Billboard Hot 100 and the first artist to do so since the Beatles in 1964.[162] With her album Thank U, Next, Grande set the record for the largest streaming week for a pop album and for a female artist at the time, with 307 million on-demand audio streams.[158] With "Die for You" with the Weeknd reaching number one, Grande surpassed Paul McCartney as the artist with the most number-one duets in Hot 100 history, with four songs. As of April 2025, Grande has 96 entries on the Hot 100, and is the fourth female artist with the most Hot 100 entries.[481] Grande is also the female artist with the most number-one debuts on the Hot 100 (7), a tie with Taylor Swift.[482] On the Billboard Pop Airplay chart, Grande has 10 number-ones and 22 top-ten songs.[483] She was also named the Billboard year-end Top Female Artist of 2017 and 2019 and was ranked sixth among women (twelfth overall) on the magazine's decade-end Top Artists Chart for the 2010s, the highest for any female act to have debuted that decade.[484][485][486] The magazine also ranked her as the sixth-greatest pop star of 2024,[487][488] 78th on the "Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists" chart,[489][490] and 19th on their "Top Artists of the 21st Century" list.[491]

As of 2025, Grande has broken 39 Guinness World Records.[492][493] These records included the most songs to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, most followers on Spotify (female), most monthly listeners on Spotify (female), most-streamed act on Spotify (female), most streamed track in one week by a female artist on the Billboard charts, fastest hat-trick of UK No. 1 singles by a female artist, first female artist to replace herself at No. 1 on UK singles chart, first solo artist to replace themselves at No. 1 on UK singles chart for two consecutive weeks, most subscribers for a musician on YouTube (female), most streamed album by a female artist in one week (UK), among others. Eleven records were achieved from the success of her album Thank U, Next which was featured in the 2020 edition.

Philanthropy and activism

[edit]

At age ten, Grande co-founded the South Florida youth singing group Kids Who Care, which performed at charitable fund-raisers and raised over $500,000 in 2007 alone.[494] In 2009, as a member of the charitable organization Broadway in South Africa, she and her brother Frankie performed and taught music and dance to children in Gugulethu, South Africa.[495][496]

She was featured with Bridgit Mendler and Kat Graham in Seventeen magazine in a 2013 public campaign to end online bullying called "Delete Digital Drama".[497] After watching the film Blackfish that year, she urged fans to stop supporting SeaWorld.[5] In September 2014, Grande participated at the charitable Stand Up to Cancer television program, performing her song "My Everything" in memory of her grandfather, who had died of cancer that July.[498] Grande has adopted several rescue dogs as pets and has promoted pet adoption at her concerts.[499] In 2016, she launched a line of lip shades, "Ariana Grande's MAC Viva Glam", with MAC Cosmetics, the profits of which benefited people affected by HIV and AIDS.[500][501]

In 2015, Grande and Miley Cyrus performed a cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" as part of Cyrus' "Backyard Sessions" to benefit her Happy Hippie Foundation, which helps homeless and LGBT youths.[502] Later that year, Grande headlined the Dance On the Pier event, part of the LGBT Pride Week in New York City.[503] As a feminist, Grande wrote a well-received, "empowering" essay on Twitter decrying the double standard and misogyny in the focus of the press on female musicians' relationships and sex lives instead of "their value as an individual".[504][505] She said that she has "more to talk about" concerning her music and accomplishments rather than her romantic relationships.[506][507] That year, Grande joined Madonna to raise funds for orphaned children in Malawi;[508] she and Victoria Monét recorded "Better Days" in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.[509]

To aid the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, Grande organized the One Love Manchester concert and re-released "One Last Time" and her live performance of "Over the Rainbow" at the event as charity singles.[510][511] The total amount raised was reportedly $23 million (more than £17 million),[365][115] and she received praise for her "grace and strength" in leading the benefit concert.[512][510] Madeline Roth of MTV wrote that the performance "bolstered courage among an audience that desperately needed it. ... Returning to the stage was a true act of bravery and resilience".[513] In 2017, New York magazine's Vulture section ranked the event as the No. 1 concert of the year,[514] and Billboard's Mitchell Harrison called Grande a "gay icon" for her LGBT-friendly lyrics and performances and "support for the LGBTQ community".[515]

In September 2017, Grande performed in A Concert for Charlottesville which benefitted the victims of the August 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.[516] In March 2018, she participated in March for Our Lives to support gun control reform.[517] Grande donated the proceeds from the first show in Atlanta on her Sweetener World Tour to Planned Parenthood in a response to the passage of a number of anti-abortion laws in several states including Georgia.[518][519] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Grande donated between $500 and $1,000 each to a number of fans as financial support.[520] Grande also supported a COVID-19 fund named Project 100, which aimed to provide $1,000 digital payments to 100,000 families who have been greatly impacted by the pandemic.[521]

In May 2020, Grande announced that all net proceeds from her collaboration with singer Justin Bieber, "Stuck With U", would be donated to the First Responders Children's Foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of frontline workers who are working during the global pandemic.[199] That month, Grande joined a Los Angeles protest against the murder of George Floyd, demanding justice and asking fans to sign petitions condemning the act of police brutality. She highlighted white privilege and called for more activism outside social media.[522][523] In 2022, Grande surprised children, who were spending the Christmas holiday period at hospitals in Manchester, with gifts from wish lists at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, among others. Manchester Foundation Trust Charity revealed that Grande had gifted nearly 1,000 presents to patients across the hospital network's children's wards and newborn intensive care units in 2021.[524]

In June 2021, Grande and other celebrities signed an open letter to Congress requesting passage of the Equality Act, highlighting that the Act would protect "marginalized communities".[525] In the same month, Grande partnered with the online portal BetterHelp, and gave away $2 million worth of therapy to fans.[526][527] On International Transgender Day of Visibility in 2022, she launched the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund to benefit transgender youth, pledging to match every donation up until $1.5 million.[528] In May 2022, Grande was among 160 artists and influencers, who signed a 'Bans Off Our Bodies' full-page advertisement in The New York Times, in support of abortion rights in the US.[529] Grande was also one of 175 entertainers to sign an open letter to oppose books bans in US schools in 2023.[530] In June 2022, Grande endorsed Karen Bass for 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election.[531]

In 2023, Grande signed an open letter from Artists4Ceasefire to president Joe Biden during the Gaza war.[532][533] In May 2024, after Israel launched an airstrike on Rafah, Grande shared a fundraiser aimed at providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.[534] Following Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 US presidential election, Grande showed support for vice president Kamala Harris's campaign.[535] In January 2025, she reposted messaging from the nonprofit organization Advocates for Trans Equality, via her social media, in response to US President Donald Trump's order to withdraw federal recognition for transgender people.[536] The following month, Grande advocated for therapy for young entertainers in both the acting and music fields, saying that weekly appointments should be built into their contracts.[537] That June, she endorsed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's recommendation to impeach Trump for a "disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization".[538]

Business and ventures

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Products and endorsements

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In November 2015, she released a limited edition handbag in collaboration with Coach.[539] In January 2016, she launched a makeup collection with MAC Cosmetics, donating 100% of proceeds to the MAC AIDS Fund.[540] In February 2016, Grande launched a fashion line with Lipsy London.[541] Later that year, she teamed up with Brookstone, using the concept art of artist Wenqing Yan, to design cat ear headphones.[542] In 2017, Grande collaborated with Square Enix to create a character based on herself for the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. Grande was a limited-time unlockable character as part of the Dangerous Woman Tour event, which also included an orchestral remix of Grande's song "Touch It"; the character, Dangerous Ariana, is a magical support character who uses music-based attacks.[543][544] In September 2017, she became a brand ambassador for Reebok.[545]

In August 2018, she partnered with American Express for The Sweetener Sessions, a partnership which continued through the Sweetener World Tour in 2019, alongside T-Mobile. In March 2019, she partnered with Starbucks for the launch of the Cloud Macchiato beverage.[546] In May 2019, Grande was announced as the face of Givenchy's fall-winter campaign.[547] The campaign began in July and generated $25.13 million in media impact value.[548] In July 2024, she became the brand ambassador of Swarovski; Grande's first appearance as the face was in the house's holiday campaign in October 2024.[549][550] Grande collaborated with the company's global creative director Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert on a capsule collection, released in January 2025.[551] Beats, Samsung, Fiat, Reebok, and Guess products have been featured in Grande's music videos.[552] She has appeared in commercials for Macy's, T-Mobile, and Apple, as well as for her own fragrances.[553] Since 2019, Grande has been among the ten highest-paid individuals on Instagram. As of 2023, Grande earns $1.6 million per sponsored Instagram post.[554]

Fragrances

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Grande has released eighteen fragrances with Luxe Brands. She launched her debut fragrance, Ari by Ariana Grande, in 2015. In the wake of its success, she launched her third fragrance, Sweet Like Candy, in 2016.[555] Her fifth fragrance, Moonlight, was released in 2017, followed by Cloud (2018), Thank U, Next (2019), R.E.M. (2020), and God Is a Woman (2021), which was later expanded to an Ulta-exclusive body care line in 2022.[556] She then released the duo fragrance collection Mod Vanilla and Mod Blush (2022).[557] It was followed by the collection Lovenotes (2024), which consisted of four region-exclusive fragrances.[558]

The next fragrance was Cherry Blossom (2025), released as a R.E.M. Beauty product via Ulta.[559] The range also includes the limited editions Frankie (2016), Sweet Like Candy Limited Edition (2017), Thank U, Next 2.0, Cloud Intense (both 2021), and Cloud Pink (2023). The fragrances won the FiFi Award multiple times, most recently with R.E.M. in 2021. In 2022, it was reported that Cloud was the best-selling fragrance at Ulta, selling one bottle every eleven seconds.[560] As of 2024, the scents are developed and manufactured in collaboration with Robertet Group and International Flavors & Fragrances.[561] Grande's fragrance line is the most-searched celebrity offering, with over 4.4 million searches across Google and social media platforms per year, as of 2023.[562] Since its launch in 2015, the franchise has made over $1 billion in retail sales globally.[563]

R.E.M. Beauty

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In November 2021, Grande launched her makeup line R.E.M. Beauty, which is distributed at Ulta Beauty as of March 2022.[564][565] The original line featured 12 core products for lips and eyes, and the range has since been expanded with additional skincare and makeup products.[564][566] Forbes reported in 2022 that R.E.M. Beauty was one of the brands boosting Ulta's driving gross margin due to strong consumer demand.[567] In May, the line won "Best New Brand" at the Allure Best of Beauty Awards.[568] In February 2023, the brand was launched in 81 Sephora stores and 13 online sites, including across Europe.[569]

Personal life

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Grande has said she struggled with hypoglycemia, which she attributed to poor dietary habits.[570] She has been following a vegan diet since 2013,[571] though fans questioned in 2019 whether she still was, after working with Starbucks to create a special edition of one of her favorite drinks which was revealed to contain eggs. Her nutritionist, Harley Pasternak, told the magazine Glamour that Grande is still following the diet, but that he has gotten her to "feel OK about indulging and celebrating sometimes".[572]

Grande developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety after the Manchester Arena bombing; she nearly pulled out of her performance in the 2018 broadcast A Very Wicked Halloween due to anxiety.[573] Grande has also said she has been in therapy for over a decade, having first seen a mental health professional shortly after her parents' divorce.[574]

Grande does not label her sexuality, but is attracted to men and women.[575] She was raised Catholic, but left the church during the pontificate of Benedict XVI (circa 2013),[576] opposing its stance on homosexuality[5] and stating that her half-brother Frankie is gay.[577] Grande said that she and Frankie later visited a Kabbalah Centre and that they both "really had a connection with it."[577][4] Several of her songs, such as "Break Your Heart Right Back", are supportive of LGBT rights.[578] She has also been labeled "an advocate for a sex-positive attitude".[579]

In November 2019, Grande endorsed Bernie Sanders' second presidential bid.[580] She endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 presidential election,[581] and Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election.[582]

On June 17, 2025, Grande announced that her grandmother, Marjorie "Nonna" Grande, had died at the age of 99.[583]

Relationships

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Grande's personal relationships have been widely scrutinized by the public.[584] Some of her former lovers were mentioned by name on the song "Thank U, Next".[585] She dated her 13 co-star Graham Phillips for three years.[586][587][588] From August 2012 to August 2014, Grande was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Australian YouTuber Jai Brooks.[589] She briefly dated English singer Nathan Sykes during their separation, and then dated rapper Big Sean for eight months.[590] Grande was in a year-long relationship with Ricky Alvarez, who was one of her backup dancers on the Honeymoon Tour.[591][592]

After recording "The Way" in 2012, Grande began dating rapper Mac Miller in 2016.[593][594] She was prominently featured on his fourth album The Divine Feminine (2016), including on its third single "My Favorite Part".[595][596] By May 2018, their relationship had ended and Grande entered a whirlwind romance with comedian Pete Davidson.[597] They got engaged in June, after a few weeks of dating, while a song titled after and inspired by Davidson was featured on Sweetener.[598] That September, Miller died from an accidental drug overdose; Grande expressed grief over his death on social media and called him her "dearest friend".[599] She and Davidson called off their engagement and ended their relationship the following month.[600]

Grande began dating real estate agent Dalton Gomez in January 2020.[601] Their relationship, while mostly private, was made public in May 2020, in the music video of her and Justin Bieber's charity single "Stuck with U".[602] Grande announced their engagement on December 20, 2020, after 11 months of dating.[603] On May 15, 2021, they married in a private ceremony at her home in Montecito, California.[604] Her wedding pictures became the second-most-liked Instagram post and most-liked Instagram post featuring pictures of people at the time, with over 25 million likes.[605][606] Grande and Gomez separated on February 20, 2023, and simultaneously filed for divorce that September due to "irreconcilable differences".[607] They agreed on a divorce settlement in October, which was finalized in March 2024.[608][609] As of July 2023, Grande is in a relationship with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.[610]

Filmography

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Discography

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Live performances and tours

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See also

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Notes

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
![Ariana Grande in 2024, wearing pink suit while promoting the film Wicked](./assets/Ariana_Grande_promoting_Wicked_(2024) Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress distinguished by her four-octave vocal range that incorporates whistle register capabilities. She initially gained recognition through roles in Nickelodeon television series, including Cat Valentine in Victorious (2010–2013) and the spin-off Sam & Cat (2013–2014), before pivoting to music with her debut album Yours Truly (2013), which reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Grande has since issued seven studio albums, accumulating over 7.6 million in equivalent album units sold globally, alongside nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, establishing her as one of the top-selling female artists of the 2010s and 2020s. Her accolades include three Grammy Awards from 19 nominations, reflecting sustained critical and commercial impact in pop music. Notable events in her career encompass the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing at her concert, prompting her organization of the benefit One Love Manchester event, as well as a transition into film with a lead role as Glinda in the 2024 Wicked adaptation, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Grande's public profile has also involved controversies such as a 2015 donut shop incident where she was recorded licking merchandise without purchase and making disparaging remarks, alongside periodic scrutiny over personal relationships and stylistic choices perceived as cultural appropriation, though these have not significantly impeded her professional trajectory.

Early life

Family and upbringing

Ariana Grande was born Ariana Grande-Butera on June 26, 1993, in Boca Raton, Florida. She is the daughter of Joan Grande, chief executive officer of Hose-McCann Communications—a manufacturer of communications and safety equipment primarily serving the U.S. Marines and Navy—and Edward Butera, a graphic designer, photographer, and artist who owned a design firm in Boca Raton. Both parents are of Italian ancestry, with Butera tracing roots to Sicily and Joan Grande to Abruzzo. Grande has one older half-sibling, brother Frankie Grande (born Frank James Michael Grande Marchione on January 24, 1983), an entertainer, producer, and Broadway performer, whom she shares with her mother from Joan's prior marriage to Victor Marchione; the siblings maintain a close relationship. Her parents divorced during her childhood, after which Joan raised Ariana primarily in Boca Raton, where the family's professional operations were based. Grande was raised in an upper-middle-class household in Boca Raton, a suburb known for its affluent communities, and showed early interest in performance arts facilitated by her mother's involvement in local theater; Joan formed a children's troupe called Kids Who Care following the closure of the Little Palm Theatre, in which Ariana participated. The family had relocated from New York to Florida prior to her birth, establishing roots in the region's business and cultural scene. She was initially raised Roman Catholic, consistent with her Italian-American heritage, though she later rejected organized Catholicism in her adolescence, citing the church's positions on homosexuality in light of her brother's sexual orientation, and explored Kabbalah as an alternative spiritual framework.

Education and initial performances

Ariana Grande attended Pine Crest School in Boca Raton, Florida, during her early childhood and later transferred to North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, where she pursued a rigorous academic curriculum alongside her burgeoning interest in performing arts. As her theater commitments intensified, Grande shifted to homeschooling in her later high school years, receiving coursework materials from North Broward Preparatory School and completing studies under private tutors to accommodate travel and rehearsals. She graduated from high school in 2012. Grande's initial performances began in local South Florida theater scenes, where she appeared in youth productions, including a role in the musical Annie at the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre. She also participated in Kids Who Care, a children's performance group formed by her mother, Joan Grande, which provided early opportunities for singing and acting in community events. Her breakthrough came at age 15 with a professional stage role as Charlotte in the Broadway musical 13, which opened on October 5, 2008, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre and closed on January 4, 2009, after 105 performances. This debut, under the direction of Jason Robert Brown, showcased her vocal abilities in a cast composed entirely of young performers and earned her a National Youth Theatre Association Award.

Career

2008–2013: Nickelodeon roles and music debut

In 2008, Ariana Grande debuted on Broadway as Charlotte in the musical 13, which explored the challenges faced by a 13-year-old boy relocating from New York to Indiana and premiered on October 16, running until January 4, 2009. The production featured an all-youth cast and earned Grande a National Youth Theatre Association Award for her role. Transitioning to television, Grande was cast as Cat Valentine, a bubbly and eccentric character with a traumatic backstory involving a strict brother, in Nickelodeon's Victorious, which premiered on March 27, 2010, and aired for four seasons until February 2013. The series followed aspiring performers at a performing arts high school and co-starred actors including Victoria Justice and Elizabeth Gillies, the latter also from 13. Grande's portrayal of Cat, complete with dyed red hair to match the character's appearance, contributed to the show's popularity among young audiences. In parallel with her acting, Grande pursued music, signing with Republic Records in 2011. Her debut single, "Put Your Hearts Up," produced by Matt Squire and sampling 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?," was released on December 12, 2011, targeting a younger demographic with its upbeat, bubblegum pop style. The music video, directed by Meiert Avis and Jeremy Alter, was filmed on November 23, 2011, and later uploaded to YouTube. Grande later expressed dissatisfaction with the single's direction, viewing it as misaligned with her artistic vision, which influenced a shift toward R&B for her debut album. Yours Truly, featuring doo-wop and 1950s-inspired elements, was released on August 30, 2013, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with lead single "The Way" featuring Mac Miller topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's success marked her transition from child actress to recording artist, selling over 220,000 copies in its first week.

2013–2015: Yours Truly and breakthrough success

Ariana Grande released her debut studio album, Yours Truly, on August 30, 2013, via Republic Records. The record, comprising 12 tracks influenced by 1950s doo-wop and 1990s R&B, debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 138,000 copies in its first week and marking the highest debut week for a female pop album since 2010. It achieved platinum certification from the RIAA for one million units shipped in the United States and has sold over 500,000 pure copies domestically as of later estimates. The album's lead single, "The Way" featuring Mac Miller, was released on March 26, 2013, debuting at number 10 and peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's breakthrough hit with over four million digital sales in the US. Follow-up singles included "Baby I," released July 22, 2013, which reached number 21 on the Hot 100 and sold over one million copies, and "Right There" featuring Big Sean, issued January 14, 2014, peaking at number 84. Critics praised Grande's four-octave vocal range on the album, often drawing comparisons to Mariah Carey for its technical prowess and emotive delivery. To promote Yours Truly, Grande embarked on her debut concert tour, The Listening Sessions, from August 13 to September 22, 2013, performing 11 shows across North America in intimate theater venues. The tour grossed $679,360 and featured full renditions of album tracks like "Honeymoon Avenue," "Tattooed Heart," and "Daydreamin'." In recognition of her rapid ascent, Grande won the New Artist of the Year award at the 2013 American Music Awards on November 24, 2013. These milestones established Grande as a prominent pop artist transitioning from television roles to music stardom.

2015–2018: My Everything, Dangerous Woman, and Sweetener amid challenges

Grande's second studio album My Everything, released on August 25, 2014, continued to generate success into 2015 through singles such as "One Last Time," which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the collaborative track "Bang Bang" with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj, reaching number three. In support, she launched her first headlining concert tour, the Honeymoon Tour, commencing on February 25, 2015, in Albany, New York, and concluding on October 25, 2015, in São Paulo, Brazil, with 99 shows across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, grossing over $26.3 million. Her third studio album, Dangerous Woman, arrived on May 20, 2016, via Republic Records, featuring singles including the title track, which debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Into You" peaking at number 13, and "Side to Side" featuring Nicki Minaj, reaching number four. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 175,000 equivalent album units in its first week. The Dangerous Woman Tour began on February 3, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona, and was set to span multiple continents. On May 22, 2017, a suicide bombing by Islamist terrorist Salman Abedi occurred in the Manchester Arena foyer immediately after Grande's concert, killing 22 civilians, mostly young fans, and injuring 139 others. Grande suspended the tour and returned to the United States, later expressing profound guilt and trauma, stating in 2018 that she believed she would "never" fully process the event and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In response, she organized the One Love Manchester benefit concert on June 4, 2017, at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, featuring performances by Grande, Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and others, which drew 55,000 attendees and raised over £17 million for victims and families through the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. Grande resumed the Dangerous Woman Tour on June 7, 2017, in Louisville, Kentucky, completing it on September 21, 2017, in Hong Kong, with enhanced security measures. Grande's fourth studio album, Sweetener, was released on August 17, 2018, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with 231,000 equivalent album units, marking her first chart-topping album and generating 126.7 million on-demand streams in its debut week, the highest for a female artist at the time. Lead single "No Tears Left to Cry" debuted at number one on the Hot 100 Digital Songs chart, while "God is a Woman" peaked at number eight on the Hot 100; the album's production, beginning in 2016 with collaborators like Pharrell Williams and Max Martin, incorporated themes of resilience and healing influenced by the Manchester attack.

2018–2020: Thank U, Next and Positions

Following the release of Sweetener in August 2018, Grande experienced a series of personal upheavals, including her breakup with rapper Mac Miller in May 2018 after two years together, a rapid engagement to comedian Pete Davidson in June 2018, and Miller's death from an accidental overdose in September 2018. These events, compounded by public scrutiny, influenced the thematic vulnerability of her subsequent work, with Grande later describing the Thank U, Next era as a period of "dark times" and the album's creation as a "means of survival." Grande surprise-released the title track "Thank U, Next" on November 3, 2018, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her first chart-topper as a lead artist. The song's introspective lyrics addressing past relationships and personal growth propelled the full album, recorded primarily between October and December 2018 in a compressed two-week span fueled by emotional intensity. Thank U, Next was released on February 8, 2019, via Republic Records, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with 360,000 equivalent album units in its first week—the strongest sales week of Grande's career at that point, comprising 116,000 pure album sales and substantial streaming volume. It held the top spot for a second week before declining, reflecting strong initial commercial momentum driven by hits like "7 Rings," released January 18, 2019, which also reached number one on the Hot 100 and became one of her signature tracks. The third single, "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored," accompanied the album drop and peaked at number two, enabling Grande to occupy the entire top three positions on the Hot 100 simultaneously—a historic feat. Critics praised Thank U, Next for its emotional depth, lighter tone relative to prior releases, and Grande's vocal delivery amid adversity, with outlets like Pitchfork and Variety hailing it as one of the year's strongest pop albums and the best-reviewed project of her career to date. The album supported an extension of Grande's Sweetener World Tour, which incorporated its material and ran from March to December 2019, grossing over $100 million across 97 dates despite no new dedicated outing. Grande performed selections from the album at the 62nd Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020, though it received no wins despite nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance for "7 Rings." Shifting toward recovery and new romance, Grande released her sixth studio album Positions on October 30, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which precluded touring but aligned with a focus on introspective R&B-inflected pop exploring relationships and self-repair. The lead single "Positions," dropped October 23, 2020, debuted at number one on the Hot 100, Grande's fifth such entry and third consecutive 2020 chart-topper. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 174 million on-demand streams in its opening week, securing her fifth number-one project overall, though pure sales were lower at around 42,000 units amid streaming dominance. Follow-up singles "34+35" and "POV" charted modestly within the top 10 and top 40, respectively, with the full set generating sustained streaming but less explosive single breakthroughs than its predecessor. Reception for Positions was generally positive but more divided, with Pitchfork noting its balance of romance and personal piecing-together, while some critics described it as a campy, upbeat collection lacking the prior era's raw edge; Grande later reflected that the response felt like "bullying," highlighting perceived underappreciation relative to expectations. Commercial longevity persisted through variants like vinyl reissues, but the album earned no Grammy wins, underscoring a pattern where Grande's rapid output yielded critical acclaim yet limited major award recognition during this period.

2021–2023: Collaborations and career reflections

In early 2021, Grande released a remix of her track "34+35" from the album Positions, featuring Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion, on January 15. The remix, which incorporated rap verses from the featured artists, peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 and supported the deluxe edition of Positions. Later that year, on April 23, she collaborated with The Weeknd on a remix of his single "Save Your Tears" from the album After Hours, adding her vocals to the chorus and bridge. This version debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Grande's fifth chart-topping single and The Weeknd's fifth, while the pair performed it live at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards on May 27. Grande maintained a lower profile in new music output through 2022, with no solo singles or full-length albums released during this time, shifting focus away from intensive recording and touring schedules that characterized prior years. In 2023, she reunited with The Weeknd for a remix of "Die For You" from his 2016 album Starboy, released on February 24, which blended their vocal harmonies and propelled the track to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after viral resurgence on social media platforms like TikTok. Later that year, on August 25, Grande issued a tenth anniversary edition of her 2013 debut album Yours Truly, expanding the original tracklist with six bonus recordings, including live versions of "Honeymoon Avenue" and "Daydreamin'" performed acoustically. This reissue highlighted archival material from her early career, underscoring her evolution from teen pop beginnings. Throughout 2021–2023, Grande shared introspective comments on her professional trajectory in public statements, emphasizing personal growth amid reduced output. In a December 2023 Instagram post, she described the year as "one of the most transformative, most challenging, and yet happiest and most special years of my life," attributing shifts to life experiences rather than explicit career dissatisfaction. She also addressed perceptions of her public image, stating in the same reflection that she felt "misunderstood" by some narratives, while prioritizing selective collaborations over prolific releases to sustain vocal health and artistic control. This period marked a deliberate pause in solo projects, allowing preparation for subsequent endeavors like her role in the Wicked film adaptation, though she avoided detailing burnout explicitly in favor of framing it as intentional recalibration.

2024–present: Eternal Sunshine, Wicked, and touring return

On January 12, 2024, Grande released "yes, and?" as the lead single from her seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was released on March 8, 2024, through Republic Records. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, holding the top position for its first two weeks, and achieved a fifth number-one ranking on the UK Albums Chart. A deluxe edition, titled Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, followed on March 28, 2025, propelling the project back to number one on the Billboard 200 from position 87 and topping album sales, current album sales, and vinyl album charts. In November 2024, Grande portrayed Glinda in the film adaptation of Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, which premiered on November 22 and starred Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The musical fantasy grossed over $755 million worldwide by May 2025, becoming the highest-grossing film adaptation of a Broadway musical. It earned the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award at the 2025 Golden Globes and a win for Grande in Supporting Film Performance of the Year at the Dorian Awards. At the 2026 Golden Globes red carpet, Grande stated to Entertainment Tonight that she is now an Academy voter and takes the responsibility seriously by watching all Oscar-contending films to be informed and complimentary, referencing a Kirsten Dunst meme. A sequel, Wicked: For Good, featuring Grande's continued role, was released in theaters on November 21, 2025. In January 2026, Grande released footage from early 2022 music rehearsals showing her performing "Thank Goodness / I Couldn’t Be Happier" ahead of recording for the Wicked: For Good soundtrack. Grande announced The Eternal Sunshine Tour, her fourth headlining arena tour supporting the album, on August 28, 2025, with initial dates in North America and London starting June 5, 2026, in Oakland, California. Additional North American shows were added in September 2025, spanning 10 cities including Los Angeles and concluding in London. This marks her return to touring after a pause, with no performances scheduled for 2025. In a January 2026 appearance on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, Grande addressed fan-reported ticket access issues for the tour, including difficulties with Ticketmaster, high resale prices, and sold-out shows particularly in London, assuring fans that her team is working on resolutions by stating, "we're going to figure something out. Don’t worry."

Artistry

Musical style and production

Ariana Grande's musical style centers on contemporary R&B and pop, frequently blending mid-tempo grooves with electronic elements and hip-hop cadences. Her early work, such as the 2013 album Yours Truly, evoked 1990s R&B through melismatic runs and layered harmonies reminiscent of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, artists she has cited as key vocal influences since uploading covers of their songs during her Nickelodeon tenure. Later releases like Positions (2020) shifted toward intimate, atmospheric R&B with precise hooks and full vocal range exploration, including whistle register notes, while incorporating house and disco stylings in tracks like those on Eternal Sunshine (2024). In production, Grande collaborates extensively with Swedish hitmakers Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, who craft minimalistic arrangements to spotlight her vocals, as in the haunting setup of "no tears left to cry" from Sweetener (2018). Multiple producers often contribute to single tracks, with Grande exerting significant creative control, including self-directing vocal arrangements and layering, as demonstrated in her breakdown of producing "Stuck with U" (2020) with Justin Bieber. For Eternal Sunshine, coproducer Nick Lee assisted in building lavish, adventurous melodies around romantic themes, emphasizing electronic atmospheres over dense instrumentation. This approach prioritizes vocal prominence and emotional intimacy, yielding hook-driven pop structures that have sustained her chart dominance.

Influences and songwriting

Grande has identified Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston as her primary vocal influences, particularly admiring Carey's melismatic phrasing and whistle register, which she emulated in early YouTube covers uploaded during her Victorious tenure around 2010–2012. She has also credited Houston's emotive power and range for shaping her delivery, as evidenced by her renditions of tracks like "I Have Nothing" in Broadway auditions as early as 2008. Additional inspirations include 1990s urban pop acts and Gloria Estefan, whose Miami Sound Machine performances motivated Grande to pursue singing professionally after attending a concert in her youth. She has also credited her former partner Mac Miller with encouraging her to embrace her authentic self, revert to her natural brown hair, move away from her Cat Valentine character, and pursue an R&B-influenced pop sound, which helped define her musical identity and prompted her to feature him on "The Way" from her 2013 debut album Yours Truly. Grande maintains a selective approach to collaborations, only pursuing those that feel right and add value to her work, as seen in scrapped projects with The Weeknd, including a "Best Friends" remix and other unreleased tracks that did not align at the time. Her broader palette extends to Madonna for pop innovation and Imogen Heap for electronic production elements, influencing stylistic shifts across albums from Yours Truly (2013) to Eternal Sunshine (2024). Grande's songwriting emphasizes personal introspection, often originating from journal entries or immediate emotional responses to life events, as in the rapid composition of Thank U, Next (2019) following her breakup with Pete Davidson in 2018, where phrases like the title track's hook derived from conversations with friend Victoria Monét. She collaborates closely with producers such as Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, contributing lyrics and melodies in studio sessions that prioritize vocal layering and thematic vulnerability, evident in co-credits on hits like "7 Rings" (2019), which interpolates 1990s R&B motifs while addressing financial independence post-divorce. On Eternal Sunshine, released March 8, 2024, Grande holds writing credits on all 13 tracks—sole lyrical authorship on seven, including "Bye" and "Supernatural"—reflecting a streamlined process focused on synth-pop introspection amid her separation from Dalton Gomez, finalized October 2023. Critics note her evolution from early reliance on external writers for Yours Truly to greater autonomy, though production teams remain integral for commercial polish.

Vocal technique and range

Ariana Grande's vocal range extends approximately four octaves, typically from D3 in her chest register to E7 in whistle register, enabling her to navigate low smoky tones and extreme high frequencies. This span, verified through analyses of her recordings, positions her as a light-lyric soprano capable of intricate melismas and rapid note transitions. Her technique emphasizes agility and register blending, utilizing light mix voice for mid-range belts and head voice for sustained highs, honed from early musical theater training. Grande frequently employs whistle register—a falsetto extension producing flute-like tones—for embellishments in songs such as "Imagine" (2018) and "Emotions" (2020), where she reaches E7 with clarity and control. This register, requiring precise breath support and minimal vocal fold tension, distinguishes her from peers but has drawn critique for occasional over-reliance, potentially masking limitations in full-chest belting power during live unamplified performances. In 2013, Grande experienced a vocal fold hemorrhage from overuse, resulting in a two-week singing ban and subsequent adjustments to her phonation for recovery, which some analyses link to a shift toward lighter, higher-placed resonance in her speaking and singing voice. Post-recovery, her approach incorporates forward oral placement to reduce strain, enhancing endurance for extended tours and roles like Glinda in the 2024 film Wicked, where she sustains demanding soprano lines up to B5 and beyond. Vocal coaches note her proficiency in modulating timbre—from breathy intimacy to bright projection—though empirical assessments highlight variability in low-end resonance compared to her upper extensions.

Public image

Persona evolution and media coverage

Ariana Grande's public persona initially emerged from her role as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon series Victorious (2010–2013) and Sam & Cat (2013–2014), portraying a bubbly, ditzy character with high ponytails and a high-pitched voice that blended into her early music image as a teen pop artist. This girl-next-door aesthetic, marked by colorful outfits and youthful exuberance, aligned with her debut album Yours Truly in 2013, which signaled a rebranding toward a more mature yet still innocent pop sensibility. By 2015, media scrutiny intensified following the "donut licking" incident at a California bakery, where footage showed Grande licking a donut and criticizing American food culture, challenging her wholesome facade and prompting outlets to question her authenticity amid her rising fame. As her career progressed into the late 2010s, Grande's image evolved toward a sexier, empowered pop diva with albums like Dangerous Woman (2016) and Sweetener (2018), incorporating edgier fashion and themes of independence, influenced by personal tragedies including the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing at her concert, which killed 22 and shifted media narratives to resilience while fueling debates on her vulnerability. Post-2018, releases such as Thank U, Next (2019) and Positions (2020) reflected a more introspective and relatable persona, addressing breakups and mental health, though critics and online discourse accused her of performative shifts, including adopting a lower speaking voice and altered mannerisms perceived as inauthentic or imitative of hip-hop culture. Media coverage often highlighted these changes, with tabloids speculating on cosmetic procedures like fillers contributing to a "gaunt" or racially ambiguous appearance, amplifying "blackfishing" allegations despite her Italian heritage, while her career resilience suggested such controversies had limited commercial impact. In recent years, particularly around her role as Glinda in the 2024 film Wicked, Grande has described her pop star persona as a deliberate "character," explaining voice modulation—higher for performances and press to protect her vocal cords, lower in private—as a professional adaptation rather than deception. This revelation drew mixed media reactions, with some praising her candor on tabloid pressures and "cringe" culture's unfairness, while others, including fan communities, critiqued it as evidence of fragmented identity or over-reliance on manufactured images. In January 2026, amid her acting pursuits and promotion of Eternal Sunshine, Grande responded on social media to a fan urging her to "get back to pop star Ariana," stating "not two separate people ! :’) same person, same artist behind all ! please enjoy eternal sunshine ♡ x," which sparked discussion on her persona consistency. Coverage has increasingly focused on body-shaming and appearance policing, which Grande has publicly condemned as harmful, noting societal normalization of such commentary amid her shift to a more glamorous, Broadway-inspired aesthetic. Despite pervasive online snark and authenticity debates, empirical metrics like sustained chart success indicate media portrayals have not derailed her trajectory, underscoring a pattern where personal evolutions are scrutinized more intensely than professional outputs. ![Ariana Grande in 2024, wearing pink suit while promoting the film Wicked](./assets/Ariana_Grande_promoting_Wicked_20242024

Fanbase dynamics and cultural impact

Ariana Grande's fanbase, self-identified as the Arianators, demonstrates high levels of dedication through substantial social media engagement and concert attendance. As of October 2025, Grande maintains approximately 373 million followers on Instagram, reflecting a broad and active online community that amplifies her releases and public appearances. Her tours underscore this loyalty; the Sweetener World Tour (2019) drew 1.3 million attendees across 97 shows, grossing $146.6 million, while the Eternal Sunshine Tour announced in 2025 saw over 1 million users attempting to secure tickets for initial dates, indicating sustained demand. Fan dynamics reveal both supportive mobilization and internal tensions. Arianators have organized voter registration drives at concerts, with the Sweetener Tour setting a record of 33,381 registrations through HeadCount, surpassing prior benchmarks for artist-led civic engagement. However, Grande has described her relationship with fans as "hard," noting in September 2024 that their actions sometimes "hurt my feelings" despite her enduring affection for them. Her manager highlighted fandom toxicity in January 2025 as a key career challenge, attributing it to fans' perceived "sense of ownership" over artists' personal lives, which can manifest in harassment or overzealous defense against critics. Instances include fans targeting individuals who share negative anecdotes about Grande, such as flooding actress Elvira's Instagram with backlash after a 2023 story about an unfavorable encounter. Grande's cultural impact extends to shaping pop music aesthetics and youth trends via her vocal agility and visual branding. Her signature high ponytail, originating from practical needs for damaged hair around 2013 and evolving into a teased, elevated style, has become emblematic of her persona and influenced fashion accessibility for fans emulating the look. In music, her blend of R&B-infused pop and whistle register techniques has positioned her as a benchmark for contemporary vocalists, contributing to Billboard's recognition of her as the sixth greatest pop star of 2024 for multifaceted influence across recordings, film, and performance. Social media savvy, including strategic posts and fan interactions, has further embedded her in digital culture, driving trends in beauty and self-presentation among younger demographics.

Criticisms of authenticity and commercialism

Critics have questioned the authenticity of Ariana Grande's public persona, particularly her adoption of vocal inflections and stylistic elements associated with Black R&B artists, which some describe as a calculated enhancement of marketability rather than organic expression. In 2018, following the release of "Thank U, Next," online commentators and media outlets accused her of using a "blaccent"—a perceived imitation of African American Vernacular English—in interviews and performances, arguing it served to broaden her appeal in urban music genres without deeper cultural engagement. This drew parallels to broader debates on white artists profiting from Black cultural aesthetics, with The Telegraph noting in 2024 that her evolving R&B sound, music videos, and speech patterns fueled perceptions of performative borrowing for commercial gain. Grande responded in a 2019 interview, asserting that such criticisms overlooked her consistent artistic influences and dismissed the "fake" label as misunderstanding her genuine self-expression. Her musical output has faced scrutiny for prioritizing commercial viability over artistic innovation, with reviewers pointing to repetitive structures and production choices that align closely with chart-topping formulas. A 2024 critique of Eternal Sunshine highlighted how tracks like "yes, and?" adhered to "formulaic pop structure," limiting emotional nuance in favor of radio-friendly hooks and beats designed for streaming success. Earlier, a 2014 Forbes analysis challenged the hype around her vocal prowess, claiming live performances revealed limitations compared to studio-polished recordings, suggesting her image as an unrivaled belter relied on auto-tune and post-production to sustain mass appeal. Such views posit that Grande's rapid album cycles—often tied to personal upheavals like breakups—function as publicity mechanisms, as seen with Thank U, Next in 2019, which capitalized on tabloid drama to achieve over 3 billion Spotify streams while critics argued it favored viral moments over substantive evolution. These critiques often emanate from music journalists and online discourse, though Grande's defenders, including Rolling Stone in 2024, frame her approach as a deliberate refinement of pop conventions that has yielded consistent commercial dominance, with seven No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 singles by 2024. Nonetheless, the emphasis on branding shifts—from ponytail icon to mature seductress—has led some to view her career as emblematic of industry-driven commodification, where authenticity yields to fan engagement metrics and endorsement deals exceeding $100 million annually.

Controversies

Early incidents and public behavior

In 2013, shortly after the conclusion of her Nickelodeon series Victorious, Grande publicly attributed the show's cancellation to co-star Victoria Justice's desire for a solo tour, a claim that fueled perceptions of interpersonal tensions on set. Reports emerged of Grande exhibiting demanding behavior during promotional activities, including requests to be photographed exclusively from her left side and avoidance of certain interview topics, which media outlets described as indicative of emerging diva tendencies. By 2014, accounts of Grande's professional conduct intensified, with sources alleging she required extensive rider specifications for appearances—such as specific lighting, wardrobe accommodations, and entourage protocols—likened by industry insiders to preparations for a presidential visit. Additional allegations included instances of rudeness toward fans at meet-and-greets and contest winners, as well as skipping scheduled fan interactions, contributing to early narratives of entitlement amid her rising music career. These reports, often from tabloid and entertainment outlets, contrasted with her public persona but lacked independent corroboration beyond anonymous sourcing. A pivotal early incident occurred on July 7, 2015, when surveillance footage from Wolfee Donuts in Woodland Hills, California, captured Grande licking and spitting on unattended doughnuts before purchase, followed by her audible remarks, "I hate Americans" and "disgusting," directed at patrons consuming the pastries. The Los Angeles Police Department investigated for potential vandalism and trespassing but declined to press charges after review. Grande issued a video apology on July 9, 2015, expressing regret for her "inexcusable" actions and clarifying her disdain targeted processed foods rather than individuals, though the event amplified scrutiny of her public comportment. In September 2025, Grande re-shared a social media post criticizing immigration deportation policies under President Trump, questioning supporters: "Now that immigrants have been violently torn from their families and communities have been destroyed - has your life gotten better?" The post drew varied user responses and prompted a White House official to respond, "Save your tears, Ariana."

Cultural appropriation and representation claims

In January 2019, rapper Princess Nokia accused Ariana Grande of cultural appropriation in the song "7 Rings," claiming that its lyrical hook—"I want it, I got it"—directly echoed her 2017 track "Mine," which addressed experiences of brown women with hair and beauty standards. Nokia shared a comparative video on social media, arguing that Grande, as a white artist, profited from elements rooted in hip-hop and minority cultural narratives without attribution. Grande responded via Instagram, acknowledging broader influences from hip-hop but stating she was unaware of Nokia's specific work and apologizing for any perceived oversight in crediting genre inspirations. The "7 Rings" music video drew further criticism for incorporating Japanese trap beats and visuals, including gold grills and kanji-inspired text, which some viewed as superficial borrowing from Asian and hip-hop aesthetics without cultural depth or collaboration. Grande had previously faced scrutiny for a 2018 tattoo intended to read "small universe" in Japanese but mistranslated as resembling "barbecue grill," highlighting recurring claims of insensitive engagement with non-Western symbols. Grande has faced persistent allegations of "blackfishing," involving her tanned skin, high ponytail hairstyle, and adoption of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) speech patterns, which critics argue allow her to emulate Black aesthetics for commercial gain while evading associated hardships. These claims peaked around her shift to R&B-infused pop in the mid-2010s, with observers noting her vocal fry and slang as mimicking Black artists like those in hip-hop and soul genres, despite her Italian-American heritage. In 2018, singer Patti LaBelle referred to Grande as a "white black girl" following her performance at Aretha Franklin's funeral, citing her stylistic emulation of Black musical traditions. Grande has attributed her vocal style to training and influences from artists like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, both of whom blend pop with R&B elements, and described tanning as a performance necessity rather than intentional misrepresentation. Representation critiques extend to perceptions that her career benefits from ambiguous ethnic presentation, potentially confusing audiences about her background, though Grande has not publicly altered her approach in response to these claims. Such controversies, often amplified on social media, have elicited defenses framing them as standard artistic evolution in pop music, which historically draws from diverse sources, but have not significantly impacted her commercial success.

Relationship scandals and personal conduct allegations

Ariana Grande's relationship with rapper Big Sean, which lasted from 2014 to 2015, drew allegations of infidelity after reports emerged that it overlapped with Sean's engagement to actress Naya Rivera. Rivera later claimed in her 2016 memoir that she discovered text messages between Grande and Sean, leading to accusations that Grande contributed to the end of her engagement. Grande dated Mac Miller from 2016 to 2018, a period she later described as "toxic" in a May 2018 Twitter statement, citing Miller's struggles with substance abuse and her efforts to support his sobriety over the years. Following their breakup in May 2018, Miller faced a DUI arrest that month and died of an accidental overdose in September 2018; some online commentators blamed Grande for his decline, prompting her to deny cheating allegations and affirm her ongoing care for him. In June 2018, shortly after Miller's DUI, Grande became engaged to comedian Pete Davidson after dating for weeks, a rapid timeline criticized amid her recent breakup and the timing near Miller's legal troubles. The engagement ended in October 2018 after four months, with sources citing Grande feeling overwhelmed; Davidson's onstage jokes, including one about switching her birth control with Tic Tacs, fueled public scrutiny of the relationship's impulsivity. Grande married real estate agent Dalton Gomez in May 2021 after dating since early 2020, but filed for divorce in September 2023 following two years of marriage marked by limited public details. Their separation coincided with reports of her involvement with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, whose own marriage to Lilly Jay ended amid allegations of an affair; sources indicated Grande and Slater's romance began on set in December 2022, overlapping with both their marriages, and Jay had given birth weeks before the split was reported in July 2023. Grande addressed cheating rumors in a September 2024 interview, emphasizing mutual separations, though tabloid coverage labeled her a "homewrecker" based on the compressed timelines. On personal conduct, Grande faced backlash in July 2015 after surveillance video from a California donut shop showed her licking an unpurchased donut and stating, "I hate America," remarks interpreted as entitled and unpatriotic; she apologized, attributing the comment to concerns over modified foods rather than broader disdain. Reports from 2014 onward have alleged diva-like behavior, including rudeness to fans at meet-and-greets, demands for specific interview restrictions, and difficult on-set interactions, though Grande has not directly responded to these claims.

Achievements

Awards and nominations

Ariana Grande has received 19 Grammy Award nominations, winning three times: Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener in 2019, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Rain on Me" with Lady Gaga in 2021, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Defying Gravity" with Cynthia Erivo from the Wicked soundtrack in 2026. In 2025, she earned three further nominations for Eternal Sunshine, including Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the remix of "The Boy Is Mine" with Brandy and Monica, and Best Dance/Electronic Recording for "Yes, And?", though she did not win or attend the ceremony. At the MTV Video Music Awards, Grande secured three wins in 2025 for "brighter days ahead": Video of the Year, Best Pop, and Best Longform Video. She has previously won Artist of the Year and other categories, such as at the 2019 ceremony where she took three awards from 12 nominations. In music publishing recognition, she was named Songwriter of the Year at the 2025 SESAC Latin Music Awards. For her performance as Glinda in the 2024 film Wicked, Grande received her first Academy Award nomination, along with Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG nominations. For her role in the sequel Wicked: For Good, she received nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 Satellite Awards (ceremony on March 8, 2026), the 2026 Critics Choice Awards, and Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards. She also won Favorite Movie Actress and Favorite Song from a Movie at the 2025 Kids' Choice Awards. Earlier accolades include two Billboard Music Awards in 2019 for Chart Achievement and Top Hot 100 Artist, from nine nominations that year.
CeremonyTotal WinsNotable Wins
Grammy Awards3Best Pop Vocal Album (Sweetener, 2019); Best Pop Duo/Group Performance ("Rain on Me", 2021; "Defying Gravity" with Cynthia Erivo, 2026)
MTV Video Music AwardsMultiple (including 3 in 2025)Video of the Year ("brighter days ahead", 2025); Artist of the Year (2019)
American Music Awards3Artist of the Year (2019); Favorite Pop/Rock Artist (multiple years)
Billboard Music Awards2Top Hot 100 Artist (2019); Chart Achievement Award (2019)

Sales records and chart performance

Ariana Grande has achieved nine number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Thank U, Next" (2019), "7 Rings" (2019), "Stuck with U" (2020), "Positions" (2020), "Yes, And?" (2024), and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" (2024), tying her for ninth-most leaders among all artists in the 21st century. She has charted 96 songs on the Hot 100, the fourth-most entries by a female artist, with 23 top-10 hits. Grande holds the Guinness World Record as the first solo artist to occupy the top three positions simultaneously on the Hot 100, accomplished in February 2019 with "7 Rings" at number one, "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" at number two, and "Thank U, Next" at number three. She also set records for the most simultaneous top-three debut positions and the most Hot 100 songs to debut at number one by a female artist, reaching at least seven such debuts by 2024. Grande's albums have consistently topped charts, with all seven studio releases certified platinum or higher by the RIAA as of September 2024, reflecting over one million units each in the United States under the program's inclusion of streams and track equivalents. Her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 376,000 equivalent album units in its first week. Worldwide, Grande's discography has generated over 93.6 million equivalent album units as of late 2024, led by My Everything (2014) with 17.7 million units, though pure sales for that album totaled only 2.3 million amid the rise of streaming. In the United States, Grande's lead singles have surpassed 100 million RIAA-certified units, marking her as the fifth female artist to reach this threshold. Standout certifications include "7 Rings" at diamond (10 million units), "The Way" (2013) at 6× platinum, and "No Tears Left to Cry" (2018) eligible for 9× platinum. These figures incorporate digital downloads, physical sales, and streaming equivalents (1,500 on-demand streams equaling one unit), which have significantly boosted totals since the mid-2010s but differ from traditional pure sales metrics.

Philanthropy

Charitable initiatives

Ariana Grande organized the One Love Manchester benefit concert on June 4, 2017, at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, following the May 22 Manchester Arena bombing at her earlier concert, which killed 22 people. The event, attended by approximately 50,000 people and broadcast globally, featured performances by Grande and artists including Coldplay, Justin Bieber, and Katy Perry, raising about $13 million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund managed by the British Red Cross to support victims and families. Additional funds, exceeding £17 million in total from public donations, ticket sales, and the re-release of her single "One Last Time," were directed to the same emergency relief efforts. In response to the same tragedy, Grande has made annual Christmas donations to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital since at least 2020, providing toys, vouchers, and gifts to pediatric patients. In December 2021, she donated nearly 1,000 presents to children and teenagers receiving treatment there. This tradition continued in December 2024, with a substantial gift donation ensuring holiday items for babies, children, and teens hospitalized across Manchester's network amid ongoing recovery needs from the attack. Grande donated the net proceeds from her June 8, 2017, concert in Atlanta—estimated at $250,000—to Planned Parenthood, supporting the organization's health services amid debates over its funding and operations. She also directed royalties from the 2020 single "Stuck with U" (with Justin Bieber), released during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the First Responders Children's Foundation to aid families of frontline workers. In April 2022, Grande pledged $1.5 million through the Pledge platform to the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund, aimed at countering U.S. state-level anti-transgender legislation restricting youth medical interventions and sports participation.

Responses to tragedies and activism scrutiny

Following the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22, 2017, which killed 22 people and injured over 1,100 during her Dangerous Woman Tour concert, Ariana Grande visited hospitalized victims within days of the attack. She canceled the remaining European dates of her tour and announced a benefit concert, One Love Manchester, held on June 4, 2017, at Emirates Old Trafford stadium. The event, attended by approximately 55,000 people with 14,000 tickets reserved for original concert attendees and their families, featured performances by Grande and artists including Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Liam Gallagher, and Take That; it raised over £10 million (about $13 million USD at the time) for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund administered by the British Red Cross to support victims and families. In recognition of these efforts, Manchester city council named Grande its first honorary citizen on July 12, 2017. Grande has maintained ongoing support for Manchester, including sending Christmas gifts and donations to local children's hospitals in 2022, five years after the bombing, as part of continued philanthropy tied to the tragedy. Her public statements emphasized resilience, stating after the event, "Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly." These actions received widespread praise for demonstrating direct, tangible aid rather than symbolic gestures, with funds distributed to affected families for medical, psychological, and financial needs. Grande's broader activism, including advocacy for mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ rights, animal welfare, and environmental causes, has generally faced limited scrutiny compared to her personal or commercial controversies. Supporters credit her with consistent engagement, such as donating proceeds from songs like "No Tears Left to Cry" (released May 2018, shortly after the first anniversary) to the Manchester fund and promoting therapy access post-tragedy. Critics, however, have occasionally questioned the depth of celebrity activism in general, including Grande's, as potentially amplified by media visibility without proportional policy impact, though specific allegations of insincerity in her case remain unsubstantiated and overshadowed by verifiable charitable outputs. No major public backlash has emerged tying her activism directly to performative motives, with her Manchester response often cited as evidence of authenticity.

Business ventures

Endorsements and fragrances

Grande has endorsed products from multiple brands throughout her career, including MAC Cosmetics, for which she served as Viva Glam ambassador starting in October 2015, promoting a dark plum lipstick and sheer pink lipgloss with proceeds benefiting HIV/AIDS initiatives. In 2016, she released a follow-up MAC Viva Glam collection featuring a shimmering neutral mauve lipglass and matte orchid pink lipstick. She signed a one-year endorsement deal with Reebok in September 2017 to promote women's workout clothing, activewear, and shoes through social media campaigns and onstage appearances, emphasizing themes of confidence and self-expression. Other partnerships include Coach handbags, T-Mobile wireless services, Givenchy fashion, and Guess apparel, contributing to her brand promotion revenue. Grande launched her own fragrance line in partnership with Luxe Brands, beginning with Ari in September 2015, a floral fruity scent featuring raspberry, rose, and vanilla notes. Subsequent releases include Moonlight (2017, a gourmand blend of lavender, peach, and cotton candy), Cloud (2018, a whipped cream and coconut composition), Thank U, Next (2019), and R.E.M. (2020). The line expanded with God Is a Woman (2018), Sweet Like Candy (2016), and limited editions like Cloud Pink (2023) and R.E.M. Cherry Eclipse (2024).
FragranceLaunch YearKey Notes
Ari2015Raspberry, rose, vanilla
Sweet Like Candy2016Blackcurrant, whipped cream, cashmere
Moonlight2017Lavender, peach, cotton candy
Cloud2018Lavender, pear, whipped cream, coconut
God Is a Woman2018Pear, bergamot, peony, pillow mist variant
Thank U, Next2019White orchid, rose, macaron
R.E.M.2020Iris, violet, vanilla
The fragrance portfolio has generated over $1 billion in global retail sales as of 2022, with Cloud alone selling a bottle every 11 seconds in 2022 and contributing significantly to the line's estimated £820 million total revenue by that point. These figures reflect strong consumer demand driven by affordable pricing (typically $30–$65 per bottle) and alignment with Grande's pop image, though exact profit splits with partners like Luxe Brands remain undisclosed.

R.E.M. Beauty and other enterprises

Ariana Grande founded R.E.M. Beauty LLC, a cosmetics brand emphasizing a dreamy, rapid eye movement-inspired aesthetic, which launched its initial collection on November 12, 2021. The debut lineup included vegan, cruelty-free products such as liquid eyeliners priced at $16, lip glosses at $17, and brow gels at $15, all formulated without parabens, sulfates, or phthalates. Distribution began through the brand's website and expanded to retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora by early 2023. The brand has released multiple collections, including limited-edition capsules tied to Grande's projects, such as the 2024 Wicked-inspired line featuring 12 multitasking products like complexion sticks and lip balms. The Wicked: For Good collection, launched at Ulta Beauty on October 5, 2025, achieved $1 million in sales within three hours of its Ulta debut, marking record-breaking performance for the brand. R.E.M. Beauty operates as Grande's primary self-owned enterprise beyond music, with no other independent business ventures publicly documented outside of endorsed collaborations and her fragrance line.

Personal life

Relationships and marriages

Grande began dating actor Graham Phillips in 2010 after meeting on the Broadway production of 13. Their relationship ended in December 2011. She dated Australian YouTuber Jai Brooks of The Janoskians from August 2012 until their breakup in April 2014, briefly reconciling later that year before splitting permanently. Grande's relationship with rapper Big Sean started in October 2014, following their collaboration on "Right There"; it ended in April 2015 amid reports of infidelity on Sean's part, which he denied. From summer 2015 to 2016, she was involved with backup dancer Ricky Alvarez, whom she credited with saving her life after the 2017 Manchester bombing, though they had separated prior. Her two-year relationship with rapper Mac Miller began in 2016 after years of friendship; they split in May 2018 citing busy schedules, with Miller dying of an accidental overdose in September 2018. Grande publicly mourned him, later expressing regret over the breakup's public framing. In May 2018, shortly after her split from Miller, Grande started dating comedian Pete Davidson; they became engaged in June 2018 but ended the relationship in October 2018, influenced by Miller's death and personal pressures. Grande met real estate broker Dalton Gomez in early 2020 during COVID-19 lockdowns; they began dating privately and married on May 15, 2021, in a Montecito, California ceremony. The couple separated on February 20, 2023, with Grande filing for divorce in September 2023 citing irreconcilable differences. They reached an amicable settlement in October 2023 that included a non-disclosure agreement, a one-time payment of $1.25 million from Grande to Gomez, half the net proceeds from the sale of their shared home, and no spousal support; the divorce was finalized on March 19, 2024, with both parties expressing mutual respect. In July 2023, shortly after her separation from Gomez, Grande began dating actor Ethan Slater, whom she met on the set of the film Wicked. Both were separating from their respective spouses at the time—Slater from Lilly Jay—and faced public scrutiny over the overlapping timelines, though representatives denied impropriety. As of January 2026, the couple remains together despite December 2025 breakup rumors, which they have publicly and privately denied through appearances and statements from representatives and friends.

Health struggles and mental health

Ariana Grande was profoundly affected by the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22, 2017, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the venue following her concert, killing 22 people and injuring over 1,000 others. In the immediate aftermath, she described herself as feeling "broken," suspended her Dangerous Woman Tour, and returned to the United States, later revealing she cried for days while processing the victims' names. Grande was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the attack, which she discussed in a June 2018 British Vogue interview, noting symptoms including flashbacks and hypervigilance. In April 2019, she posted brain scan images on Instagram Stories, highlighting physiological changes associated with PTSD and emphasizing that the condition's effects were "not a joke." She has experienced persistent anxiety and depression, exacerbated during the creation of her 2018 album Sweetener and 2019 album Thank U, Next, which she characterized in a February 2025 interview as "dark times" marked by intensive therapy to manage PTSD alongside grief from personal losses including the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller, and other emotional distress. Grande began therapy at age eight to address her parents' divorce and has continued it long-term, stating in 2018 that it "saved my life so many times" and advocating for its accessibility beyond crisis situations. In November 2024, she reiterated therapy's role in navigating lifelong mental health challenges, including anxiety.

Acting and performances

Television and voice work

Ariana Grande's television acting debut occurred in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, where she portrayed Cat Valentine from the series premiere on March 27, 2010, through its conclusion on February 2, 2013, across four seasons and 57 episodes. The character, a student at the fictional Hollywood Arts High School for performing arts, was characterized by her ditzy personality, frequent use of a high-pitched vocal register, and unpredictable antics, contributing to the show's comedic tone centered on teen performers. Grande reprised the role of Cat Valentine in the spin-off series Sam & Cat, co-starring Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett from the related Nickelodeon show iCarly, which aired 36 episodes from October 17, 2013, to July 17, 2014. The program depicted the mismatched duo operating a babysitting service called "Sam and Cat's Super Cat Sitters," blending slapstick humor with episodic adventures involving their young clients. Production halted after one season, with Grande later reflecting on the experience amid broader discussions of Nickelodeon set dynamics. In voice work for animation, Grande provided the English dubbing voice for Princess Diaspro, a recurring villainous fairy in the Nickelodeon-produced version of the Italian series Winx Club, appearing in seasons 3 through 5 as well as in specials from 2011 to 2013. The character, a rival to the lead Bloom, schemed to undermine the protagonists through manipulation and magical confrontations within the show's fantasy framework of fairy transformations and battles. This role marked one of her early forays into animated voicing, leveraging her vocal range for the character's haughty demeanor.

Film and stage roles

Ariana Grande's stage debut occurred in 2008 with the Broadway production of 13: The Musical, where she portrayed Charlotte and served as understudy for Patrice. The musical, composed by Jason Robert Brown, featured an all-youth cast and ran for 105 performances from October 16, 2008, to January 4, 2009, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. For her performance, Grande received a National Youth Theatre Association Award. In 2016, Grande appeared as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray Live!, NBC's live television adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. The production aired on December 7, 2016, and featured Grande alongside performers such as Kristin Chenoweth and Jennifer Hudson, drawing 9.07 million viewers. Grande's feature film roles began with a voice performance as adult Laura in the animated sports comedy Underdogs (2013), released in the United States on October 17, 2014. She followed with a cameo as a pop star in Zoolander 2 (2016), a sequel to the 2001 comedy, where her character is briefly assassinated during a fashion show sequence. In Men in Black: International (2019), she voiced a singing alien in a minor role. In the satirical film Don't Look Up (2021), directed by Adam McKay and released on Netflix on December 24, 2021, Grande played Riley Bina, a young social media influencer and presidential aide involved in a publicity stunt subplot. Her most prominent film role to date is Glinda Upland (later Glinda the Good) in Wicked (2024), the first installment of the two-part screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, directed by Jon M. Chu and released on November 22, 2024. On the Awards Chatter podcast, when asked which character she learned the most from, Grande responded, "Oh, definitely Glinda. Not Cat. Not Chanel No. 2," referencing her portrayal of Glinda over Cat Valentine from Victorious and Chanel No. 2 from Scream Queens. At the 2026 Golden Globes, she appeared on the red carpet wearing an "ICE OUT" pin.

Tours and live shows

Ariana Grande's first major concert tour, the Honeymoon Tour, supported her album My Everything and ran from February 25, 2015, to October 25, 2015, encompassing approximately 77 shows across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. The tour featured opening acts such as Prince Royce and Rixton, with setlists including hits like "Bang Bang" and "Problem." The Dangerous Woman Tour, promoting her third studio album, commenced on February 3, 2017, and concluded on September 21, 2017, after 75 reported shows, grossing $71 million in ticket sales and attracting around 867,530 attendees. A suicide bombing at Manchester Arena following her May 22, 2017, concert killed 22 people and injured over 1,000, prompting Grande to organize the One Love Manchester benefit concert on June 4, 2017, which drew 55,000 attendees live and peaked at 14.5 million viewers on BBC One. Grande's Sweetener World Tour, in support of Sweetener and Thank U, Next, began on March 18, 2019, in Albany, New York, and ended on December 20, 2019, in Osaka, Japan, spanning 97 shows primarily in North America and Europe, grossing $146.4 million and selling 1.3 million tickets. In 2021, Grande headlined the Rift Tour, a virtual concert event in the video game Fortnite on August 6, 2021, viewed by over 78 million players across multiple shows. Following a hiatus from large-scale touring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she performed select live shows, including appearances at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. On August 28, 2025, Grande announced the Eternal Sunshine Tour, her first headlining arena tour since 2019, scheduled to begin on June 6, 2026, in Oakland, California, and conclude on September 1, 2026, in London, with 41 dates across North America and Europe. Grande has delivered numerous notable live performances at award shows and events, such as "Bang Bang" with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards and American Music Awards, "God Is a Woman" at the 2018 MTV VMAs, and "Thank U, Next" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

Ariana Grande's debut studio album, Yours Truly, was released on August 30, 2013, through Republic Records. The record drew from 1990s pop and R&B influences, featuring collaborations with artists such as Big Sean and Mac Miller on tracks like "Right There" and "The Way." It produced three singles: "The Way," which peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100; "Baby I"; and "Right There." The album sold over 220,000 copies in its first week in the United States. Her second album, My Everything, followed on August 25, 2014, expanding into EDM and hip-hop elements with features from Iggy Azalea, Zedd, and Big Sean. Key singles included "Problem" featuring Iggy Azalea, which debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Break Free" with Zedd, reaching number four. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 169,000 copies in its debut week, and has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA. Dangerous Woman, Grande's third studio album, arrived on May 20, 2016, blending pop, R&B, and dance styles with contributions from Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. Singles such as "Dangerous Woman," "Into You," and "Side to Side" featuring Nicki Minaj all charted in the Billboard Hot 100 top ten. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 175,000 album-equivalent units in its first week and achieved platinum certification in multiple countries. Wait, fandom is wiki-like, avoid. Use but no Genius for this, wait results have Spotify, Discogs. Correction: Use for tracklist/release implied. Her fourth album, Sweetener, was released on August 17, 2018, incorporating trap beats and themes of resilience post-Manchester bombing, with production from Pharrell Williams and Max Martin. It featured singles "No Tears Left to Cry" and "God is a Woman," both top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hits. Sweetener debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, moving 231,000 units in its first week, and won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2019. The fifth album, Thank U, Next, came out on February 8, 2019, just six months after Sweetener, focusing on personal heartbreak and self-reflection with minimalistic R&B production. Standout singles "Thank U, Next" and "7 Rings" both hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the latter sparking controversy over interpolation similarities to "My Favorite Things." It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 360,000 units and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Positions, her sixth studio effort, was issued on October 30, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing romantic and sexual themes in a trap-pop framework with features from Doja Cat and The Weeknd. The title track peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while "34+35" reached number eight. The album topped the Billboard 200 in its debut week with 174,000 units. Grande's seventh album, Eternal Sunshine, released on March 8, 2024, explores post-breakup introspection and drew inspiration from the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Produced largely by Max Martin, it includes singles "Yes, And?" and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)," both debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The record debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 325,000 equivalent album units, marking her longest-charting album to date.

Singles and collaborations

Grande's entry into the music industry as a recording artist began with the release of "Put Your Hearts Up" on December 6, 2011, through Republic Records, a cover of a Studio One song that peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100. Her breakthrough came with "The Way" featuring Mac Miller from her debut album Yours Truly, released as a single on March 26, 2013; it debuted at number 10 and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking her first top-10 hit. Follow-up singles from the album, "Baby I" (July 22, 2013) and "Right There" featuring Big Sean (October 29, 2013), reached peaks of number 87 and 84, respectively, on the Hot 100, with limited commercial impact compared to "The Way." The 2014 release of My Everything propelled Grande to mainstream pop stardom through its singles. "Problem" featuring Iggy Azalea, issued April 28, 2014, debuted at number 3 and peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100, becoming her first top-5 hit and certified diamond by the RIAA. "Break Free" with Zedd (July 2, 2014) followed, peaking at number 4. "Bang Bang", a collaboration with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj released August 28, 2014, achieved a number 3 peak despite not being a lead single from Grande's album. Later singles "Love Me Harder" with The Weeknd (October 14, 2014) and "One Last Time" (February 10, 2015) peaked at numbers 7 and 13, respectively, contributing to the album's multi-platinum status. Subsequent albums yielded further Hot 100 number-one singles as lead artist. From Dangerous Woman (2016), the title track peaked at number 10, while "Side to Side" featuring Nicki Minaj (August 30, 2016) reached number 5. Sweetener (2018) featured "No Tears Left to Cry" (April 20, 2018) debuting at number 3 and peaking there, and "God is a Woman" (July 13, 2018) at number 8. Thank U, Next (2019) produced two chart-toppers: the title track (November 3, 2018), which held number 1 for eight non-consecutive weeks, and "7 Rings" (January 18, 2019), which topped for eight consecutive weeks and was certified diamond. Positions (2020) led with its title track (October 23, 2020) debuting at number 1. Grande's 2024 album Eternal Sunshine generated additional number-one singles: "Yes, And?" (January 12, 2024), which debuted at number 1, and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" (March 8, 2024), also debuting at number 1. "The Boy Is Mine" (May 17, 2024) peaked at number 11.
SingleRelease DatePeak on Billboard Hot 100Notes
Problem (ft. Iggy Azalea)April 28, 20142Diamond certified
Thank U, NextNovember 3, 20181 (8 weeks)Diamond certified
7 RingsJanuary 18, 20191 (8 weeks)Diamond certified
PositionsOctober 23, 20201-
Yes, And?January 12, 20241-
We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)March 8, 20241-
Grande has also scored number-one hits through collaborations. "Rain on Me" with Lady Gaga (May 22, 2020) debuted at number 1 and won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. "Stuck with U" with Justin Bieber (May 8, 2020), released for charity, also debuted at number 1. The "Save Your Tears" remix with The Weeknd (2020) reached number 1 in 2021. Other notable featured appearances include "Die For You" remix with The Weeknd (2022), peaking at number 2, and multiple tracks with Nicki Minaj across albums. These collaborations have expanded her reach, often blending pop, R&B, and dance elements, with several certified multi-platinum by the RIAA.

References

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