GRANDE
Ariana

Ariana Grande-Butera is an American singer and actress. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including two Grammy Awards, one Brit Award, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, nine MTV Video Music Awards, and 27 Guinness World Records.

Born in Boca Raton, Florida, Grande began her music career at age 15 in the 2008 Broadway musical 13. She rose to fame for her role as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious (2010–2013) and Sam & Cat (2013–2014). She subsequently signed with Republic Records in 2011 after label executives discovered YouTube videos of her covering songs. Her 1950s doo-wop-influenced pop and R&B debut album, Yours Truly (2013), topped the US Billboard 200, while its lead single, "The Way", reached the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100. Grande's wide vocal range and whistle register on the album drew immediate comparisons to those of Mariah Carey.

Grande continued to explore pop and R&B in her second and third studio albums, My Everything (2014) and Dangerous Woman (2016). The former experimented with EDM and achieved global success with its singles "Problem", "Break Free" and "Bang Bang"; the latter became her first of four consecutive number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart. Personal struggles influenced her trap-infused fourth and fifth studio albums, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019), both of which were critical and commercial successes. Sweetener won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, and Thank U, Next broke the record for the largest streaming week for a pop album and was nominated for Album of the Year. The singles "Thank U, Next", "7 Rings", and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" made Grande the first solo artist to hold the top three spots on the Hot 100 simultaneously and the first woman to succeed herself at the top of the UK Singles Chart. Her 2020 collaborations "Stuck with U" with Justin Bieber and "Rain on Me" with Lady Gaga helped her break the record for most number-one debuts on the Hot 100, the latter winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Grande's R&B-focused sixth studio album, Positions (2020), and its title track debuted at number-one in both the UK and US. In 2021, Grande earned her sixth US number-one single after featuring on the remix of The Weeknd's "Save Your Tears".

Grande has sold more than 85 million units in the US, and each of her studio albums has been certified platinum or more by the Recording Industry Association of America. Among her Hot 100 records, she is the only artist to have five number-one debuts, to have their first five number one singles debut at the top spot, to chart three number one-debuts in one calendar year, and to debut the lead singles from each of her studio albums in the top ten. Having amassed 90 billion streams thus far, Grande is the most streamed female artist ever. She is also the most streamed female artist on Spotify and Apple Music, the most followed female artist on Spotify, and the most subscribed female artist on YouTube. She has been included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world (2016 and 2019) and the Forbes Celebrity 100 (2019–2020); additionally, she was named Woman of the Year (2018), the greatest pop star of 2019, and the most accomplished female artist to debut in the 2010s by Billboard. Aside from music, Grande advocates for gender, racial, and LGBT equality and has been the most followed musician on Instagram since 2019.

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 communications and safety equipment, and Edward Butera, a graphic design firm owner in Boca Raton. Grande is of Italian descent, and has described herself as being an Italian American with Sicilian and Abruzzese roots. She has an older half-brother, Frankie Grande, who is an entertainer and producer, and she has a close relationship with her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Grande. Her family had moved from New York to Florida before her birth, and her parents separated when she was eight or nine years old.

As a young child, Grande performed with the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater, playing her first role as the title character in their version of the musical Annie. She also performed in their musicals The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast. At the age of 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, and she made her first national television appearance singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the Florida Panthers. During this time she attended the Pine Crest School and later North Broward Preparatory.