Few people would have thought that a dozen or so years ago Ariana Grande, then known as the star of the Nickelodeon children’s station, would become one of the most important artists in the pop world. A singer who has just released an album that has been awaited for four years “Eternal Sunshine” (premiere on March 8, 2024), he wants to seal his position on the music scene.
It is believed that Ariana Grande she is one of the few singers of her generation who has a four-octave vocal range and can also reach the whistle register. For her achievements, she was awarded, among others: two Grammy Awards, a Brit Award and nine MTV Video Music Awards. She was also among the greatest singers in history according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Ariana Grande was born in Boca Raton, Florida, and owes her extraordinary beauty to her Italian roots – she is half-Sicilian and half-Abruzzian. Although she is only 30 years old today and has released seven studio albums (including the recently released album), television fans know her from quite ancient times. Then, as a teenager, she gained international fame as Cat Valentine in productions “Victoria means victory” (2010-2013) and “Sam and Cat” (2013-2014), broadcast on Nickelodeon. It was thanks to them that she had her first contact with a microphone, because she recorded the official soundtrack for the production.
Her unique voice caught the attention of experts from Republic Records, who signed her to a contract for her debut album – “Yours Truly”. It was released in 2013 and immediately reached the top of the Billboard 200. On the album, she performed a repertoire bordering on pop and R&B. Then she went on her first concert tour, for which approximately 25,000 tickets were sold, the rising star played only 11 concerts.
The next album, that is “My Everything” released just a year later, it brought her her first major hits, such as “Break Free” Whether “Bang Bang”. During the tour promoting the album “The Honeymoon”, she has already played 88 concerts, during which she was watched by over 800,000 people. fans. Grande’s fans had to wait two years for the third album, and “Dangerous Woman” has already conquered not only the American charts, but also the British ones. This resulted in a concert tour that, apart from the USA, also visited Europe, South America and Asia.
On May 22, 2017, Ariana Grande performed at the Manchester Arena as part of the “Dangerous Woman Tour”, and over 14,000 of the singer’s fans gathered in the facility. As the concert ended, a suicide terrorist attack occurred, believed to be the most serious and deadliest in Britain since the London Underground bombing in 2005. 23 people were killed (including the attacker) and over 1,000 were injured.
Read also: Terrorist attack at Ariana Grande’s concert
This event was a huge blow for Grande, after which she canceled many concerts. “I am devastated. (…) I have no words,” she wrote. The star later admitted that she had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and continued therapy initiated during her parents’ divorce when she was a teenager. On June 4, 2017, she organized a charity concert in memory of the victims of this tragic event. On stage appeared, among others: Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, Miley Cyrus Whether Justin Bieber.
When she returned to Manchester after two years, she admitted that the city had a “special place in her heart”. I’m so happy to be with you, thank you for your hospitality. I’m sorry I’m so nervous. I wanted to say more, but I feel overwhelmed. Thank you,” she told fans.
She suffered another big blow from life shortly later – for almost two years (2016-2018) she was in a relationship with American rapper Mac Miller, and a few months after their breakup, the musician accidentally overdosed on illegal substances and died.
On subsequent albums, that is “Sweetener” (2018) and “Thank U, Next” (2019) moved slightly away from the R&B sound – but we can hear a lot of influence from electronic and trap music. Thanks to three songs – the title track, “7 Rings” and “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored”, she became the first artist with three number 1s on the American “Hot 100”. It was her 2019 album that made her an international pop icon – in total, she has collected over 40 billion views of her work on various platforms, from Spotify to YouTube.
Moreover, Grande declared herself politically several times, including: as a supporter Bernie Sanderswhen he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Many also consider her a feminist icon of the LGBT+ movement, which she openly supports. Although she was raised in a Catholic family, she rejected the faith after her brother Frankie announced that he was homosexual. She later explained that she could not be part of a community that did not accept her beloved brother. In the following years, she identified herself as a follower of New Age and Kabbalah.
In February 2019, she became the most followed woman on Instagram, and today she is in third place (380 million followers; only women have more Kylie Jenner (399 million) and Selena Gomez (430 million)). She has been mentioned many times by Forbes and Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.
In 2020, she released an album “Positions”but she also guest starred in a huge hit Lady Gaga, “Rain On Me”. Since then, a lot has changed in the star’s life – for one season she was a coach in the American “The Voice” (2021), and Grande managed to get married, but also divorced. In the first single promoting the album “Eternal Sunshine”, Ariana referred to media attention related to her personal life.
Let us recall that the singer involved in the creation of the musical “Wicked” reportedly left her husband for a co-star – Ethan Slater. The actor, however, was supposed to leave his family for Grande – his wife and a few-month-old son. “Your business is yours and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose **** I ride? Why?” – sounds one of the rather aggressive lines of the single. The song, with a pop-house vibe, heralded a different Ariana than we knew before.
Watch the video for the song “Yes And?”:
While promoting the new album, the singer appeared slightly changed and emaciated. Although the star is only 1.55 m tall and weighs about 47 kilograms, many of the singer’s fans were concerned about her health. As she later explained, the loss of a few kilograms was due to preparations for her dream role in the above-mentioned film version of the musical “Wicked”. In the original production, she played her role (Glinda). Kristin Chenoweth – an extremely petite actress. It turns out that Grande does not want to be different from the original character, so she decided to go on a restrictive diet.
What can fans expect from the new album “Eternal Sunshine”? As the artist said, it was created as “something like” a concept album, which will include various fragments of “the same story, the same experience”. Several compositions are supposed to be really honest and “sensitive”, and some of them are supposed to be a “funny” response to people’s expectations of her artistic path.
1. intro (end of the world)
2. bye
3. don’t wanna break up again
4. Saturn Returns Interlude
5. eternal sunshine
6. supernatural
7. true story
8. the boy is mine
9. yes, and?
10. we can’t be friends (wait for your love)
11. i wish i hated you
12. imperfect for you
13. ordinary things (feat. nonna).