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MUSIC FEATURE

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Once a children’s theatre student, now making the kinds of dents in global pop culture that you can set your watch to. Over the course of three decades, Ariana Grande has done her surname’s definition proud. But, how did she make it to her current position, poised to drop the biggest album of 2024? As we excitedly await the release of her seventh studio record Eternal Sunshine , we’re taking at trip down memory lane to remember the achievements, devastations and prevailing joys of this singular artist. Words: Zoë Radas

Baby Grande Ariana began what would become an illustrious career in the entertainment industry as an actress. At just 15 years old, she landed a starring role in 13 – the only Broadway musical production which has ever been able to boast a cast and band composed entirely of teenagers. In 2010, the small screen industry began taking notice of Grande’s acting chops when she portrayed the sweet and kooky Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon teen sitcom Victorious , as well as its spin-off Sam & Cat. ”When I was younger, people loved Cat so much I used to pretend to be more like her,” Grande wrote in a Facebook post upon Sam & Cat ’s cancellation in 2014. ”It took me a long time to be brave enough to separate myself and show people how different we actually are.” Music calls Despite the recognition for her acting prowess, Grande knew her deepest talents lay in her singing voice. At 20 years old (in 2013), she released her debut album Yours Truly , a blissed-out pop collection which immediately earned her comparisons to Mariah Carey. It debuted at

number one on the Billboard 200 chart, spurred by its immaculate lead single The Way featuring rapper Mac Miller.

The sweetest smooch The clip for Grande’s break-out hit The Way depicts the singer and featured rapper Mac Miller having an absolute ball in a white-walled room. ”We had no budget, didn’t even tell the label that we were gonna do it,” Grande revealed in a 2023 TikTok Q&A. ”We said, ’Listen, we have a camera, we have a projector, we have music, we have balloons, we got dancers.’” The clip includes the first kiss Grande and Miller ever shared; the two would go on to date from 2016 to May 2018. Miller passed away from an accidental overdose in September of that year. In 2023, Grande said that when she listens to The Way , she feels ”proud, eternally grateful, and emotional, bittersweet.”

More triumph, More tragedy

Grande’s second album My Everything arrived in 2014, and presented a new musical direction which expertly played with ’80s and ’90s pop convention, incorporating cute funk horns and R’n’B flavours. It included two particular ripsnorters: Problem , which featured Australian rapper Iggy Azalea; and the Grammy-nominated Bang Bang, a three way vocal party between Grande, UK popstar Jessie J, and US rapper Nicki Minaj. My Everything landed Grande another number one spot on the Billboard 200; the album also hit the top of the Australian and Canadian charts, and made the top three in several other countries. In February 2016, Grande revealed that her third album was almost complete – and that it had just undergone a dramatic name change, from Moonlight to Dangerous Woman . ” Moonlight is a lovely song, and it’s a lovely title,” she wrote on

72 MARCH 2024

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