Ariana Grande – Best Iconic Biography, Musics in 2025

Introduction

Ariana Grande-Butera, 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 have deemed Grande one of the greatest artists in history, and Time included her on its list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2016 and 2019.

Grande’s career began as a teenager in the Broadway musical 13 (2008) before she gained 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

She released her debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013), a retro-inspired pop and R&B record that debuted atop the Billboard 200. She incorporated elements of electronic music on her next two albums, My Everything (2014) and Dangerous Woman (2016), both of which achieved international success and spawned the singles “Problem”, “Break Free”, “Bang Bang”, “One Last Time”, “Into You“, and “Side to Side”. Personal struggles influenced Grande’s albums Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019), both of which delved into trap. She won her first Grammy Award for Sweetener, while Thank U, Next produced the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles “Thank U, Next” and “7 Rings”.

With the title track of her R&B-infused album Positions (2020), as well as the collaborations “Stuck with U” and “Rain on Me”, she achieved the most number-one debuts in the US. After a musical hiatus, she explored dance on Eternal Sunshine (2024), which yielded the US 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 portrayed Glinda in the fantasy musical film Wicked (2024) as well as its sequel Wicked: For Good (2025).

Early life

Ariana Grande-Butera was born on June 26, 1993, in Boca Raton, Florida. 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, and Edward Butera, a graphic design firm owner in Boca Raton. Grande is of Italian descent and has described herself as an Italian American.

She has Sicilian and Abruzzese roots and an older half-brother, Frankie Grande, who is an entertainer and producer. Her family moved from New York to Florida before her birth, and her parents separated when she was eight or nine years old. Grande had a close relationship with her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Grande. At age eight, she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Florida Panthers’ home game against the Chicago Blackhawks on January 16, 2002.

As a young child, Grande performed with the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater, 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. 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. During this time, she attended Pine Crest School and later North Broward Preparatory.

Career

2008–2013: Career beginnings and Nickelodeon

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

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.

The second season of Victorious premiered in April 2011 to 6.2 million viewers, becoming the show’s highest-rated episode. In May 2011, Grande appeared in Greyson Chance’s video for the song “Unfriend You” from his album Hold On ’til the Night, 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 recorded several covers of songs by Adele, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey, which she uploaded to YouTube.

A friend of Monte Lipman, chief executive officer 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. Grande voiced the title role in the English dub of the Spanish-language animated film Snowflake, the White Gorilla in November 2011. From 2011 to 2013, she was cast as the fairy Princess Diaspro in the Nickelodeon revival of Winx Club.

2013–2015: Yours Truly and My Everything

Grande released her debut album, Yours Truly, on August 30, 2013. 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. The album also debuted in the top ten in several other countries, including Australia, the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Its lead single, “The Way”,
featuring Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, debuted at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at number nine for two weeks. 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. The album’s second single, “Baby I”, was released in July, and its third single, “Right There”, featuring Detroit rapper Big Sean, was released in August 2013. They respectively peaked at number 21 and 84 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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. At the 2013 American Music Awards, she won the award for New Artist of the Year. She released a four-song Christmas EP, Christmas Kisses, in December 2013.

Grande received the Breakthrough Artist of the Year award from the Music Business Association, recognizing her achievements throughout 2013. By January 2014, she had begun recording her second studio album with singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder and record producers Benny Blanco and Max Martin. The same month, she earned the Favorite Breakout Artist award at the People’s Choice Awards 2014. In March 2014, Grande sang at the White House concert, Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House. The following month, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama invited her again to perform at the White House for the Easter Egg Roll event.

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. She was featured on Cashmere Cat’s song “Adore”, released in March 2015. In the spring, she signed an exclusive publishing contract with the Universal Music Publishing Group, covering her entire music catalog.

Grande also filmed an episode for the Fox reality TV series Knock Knock Live in 2015, but the show was canceled before her episode aired. She guest-starred on several episodes of the Fox comedy-horror television series Scream Queens as Sonya Herfmann/Chanel #2 from September to November 2015. She recorded the duet “E Più Ti Penso” with Italian recording artist Andrea Bocelli, released in October 2015 as the lead single from Bocelli’s album Cinema, and covered the song “Zero to Hero”, originally from the animated film Hercules (1997), for the compilation album We Love Disney (2015). Grande also released her second Christmas EP, Christmas & Chill, in December 2015.

2024–present: Eternal Sunshine, Wicked, and expansion to acting

Grande’s seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine, was released on March 8, 2024. It was preceded by its lead single, “Yes, And?”, released on January 12, 2024. The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, topped the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. US charts for two weeks, and was followed by a remix featuring Mariah Carey on February 16.

The second single, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)”, was released in tandem with the album. Grande’s first album in over three years, Eternal Sunshine marked her first major foray into dance and house music. Met with universal acclaim, critics dubbed it one of her most mature and sophisticated records yet.

Debuted atop the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 respectively, achieving Grande’s third-largest sales week (227,000 units) and making her the woman with the most Hot 100 number-one debuts (7). Elsewhere, the album debuted at number one in thirteen countries, including Australia, Canada, and the UK. 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. It also marked her first instance of reaching the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts. Topping the Pop Airplay chart for two weeks, “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” marked Grande’s tenth number-one.

Public image

Grande cited Audrey Hepburn as a major style influence in her early career; however, she later found emulating Hepburn’s style “a little boring.” She also drew inspiration from actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Ann-Margret, Nancy Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe. 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.

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.” 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. She also began regularly wearing cat and bunny ears and, subsequently, oversized jackets and hoodies. Grande’s style is

Often imitated by social media influencers and celebrities. After years of dyeing her hair red for her role as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon, Grande wore extensions as her hair recovered from damage. Anne T. Donahue of MTV News noted that her “iconic” high ponytail has received more attention than her fashion choices.

Achievements

Grande has sold over 90 million records worldwide, 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, whilst her longest-charting album, Thank U, Next, has spent 171 non-consecutive weeks on the chart.

Grande has accumulated 13 million albums and 107 million digital singles units as a lead artist in the United States, making her the 14th-highest-certified artist and fifth-highest-certified female artist on RIAA’s Top Artists (Digital Singles) ranking. With 120 million units combined (songs and albums), she is the 24th-highest-certified artist overall, and sixth among women.

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. Two of her songs have been certified diamond by the RIAA: “Bang Bang” (with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj) and “7 Rings.” She is one of the best-selling female artists in the UK, with over 36 million certified units as of 2025.

As of 2025, Grande has broken 39 Guinness World Records. These records include 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 the UK singles chart, first solo artist to replace herself at No. 1 on the 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.

Relationships

Grande’s personal relationships have been widely scrutinized by the public. Some of her former lovers were mentioned by name in the song Thank U, Next. She dated her 13 co-star Graham Phillips for three years. From August 2012 to August 2014, Grande was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Australian YouTuber Jai Brooks.

She briefly dated English singer Nathan Sykes during their separation, and then dated rapper Big Sean for eight months. Grande was in a year-long relationship with Ricky Alvarez, who was one of her backup dancers on the Honeymoon Tour.

Filmography

Main article: Ariana Grande videography

This section lists select works only. Refer to the main article for further information.

Films and televisionVictorious (2010–2013)Sam & Cat (2013–2014)Swindle (2013)Underdogs (2016)Hairspray Live! (2016)Don’t Look Up (2021)Wicked (2024)Brighter Days Ahead (2025)Wicked: For Good (2025)Focker In-Law (2026)

Documentaries and concert specialsOne Love Manchester (2017)Ariana Grande at the BBC (2018)Ariana Grande: Dangerous Woman Diaries (2018)Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You (2020)

Discography

Main articles: Ariana Grande discography and List of songs recorded by Ariana Grande

Yours Truly (2013)
My Everything (2014)
Dangerous Woman (2016)
Sweetener (2018)
Thank U, Next (2019)
Positions (2020)
Eternal Sunshine (2024; reissued in 2025 as Brighter Days Ahead)

Live performances and tours

Main article: List of Ariana Grande live performances

Stage acting

Year	Production	Role	Director	Venue	Notes	Ref.
2008	13	Charlotte	Jeremy Sams	Norma Terris Theatre, Chester		^[614]
2008–2009	13	Charlotte	Jeremy Sams	Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Manhattan	Original Broadway Cast	^[615]
2012	A Snow White Christmas	Snow White	Bonnie Lythgoe	Pasadena Playhouse		^[616][617]

Tours

Headlining

The Listening Sessions (2013)
The Honeymoon Tour (2015)
Dangerous Woman Tour (2017)
Sweetener World Tour (2019)
The Eternal Sunshine Tour (2026)

Promotional

The Sweetener Sessions (2018)

Opening act

Justin Bieber – Believe Tour (2013)

For more

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