2008–2013: Career beginnings and Nickelodeon 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?!'" Grande was cast in the
Nickelodeon television show
Victorious along with
13 co-star
Elizabeth Gillies in 2009. In the sitcom, set at a
performing arts high school, she played the "adorably dimwitted"
Cat Valentine. The show premiered in March 2010 to the second-largest audience for a live-action series in Nickelodeon, with 5.7 million viewers. 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." 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 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 (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. 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. From 2011 to 2013, she was cast in the role of fairy Princess Diaspro in the Nickelodeon revival of Winx Club''. 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. 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". 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. In December 2012, Grande collaborated on the single version of "
Popular Song", a duet with British singer and songwriter
Mika. After four seasons,
Victorious was not renewed, 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. She played Amanda Benson in
Swindle, a 2013 Nickelodeon film adaptation of the children's
book of the same name. Meanwhile, Nickelodeon created
Sam & Cat, an
iCarly and
Victorious spin-off starring
Jennette McCurdy and Grande. 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.
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.
Yours Truly 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. 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, Grande 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. 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. 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. She explored
EDM,
dance-pop, and
electro genres on the album. Its lead single, "
Problem" featuring Australian rapper
Iggy Azalea, peaked at number two on the
Billboard Hot 100, and became Grande's first number-one on
the UK and
New Zealand singles charts. Selling 438,000 digital copies in its opening week, it achieved the highest first-week sales numbers of 2014 and made Grande the youngest woman, at 20 years old, to debut with over 400,000 downloads at the time. "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). The album's second single, "
Break Free", featuring German musician and producer
Zedd, was released on July 3 and reached number four in the United States. She performed the song as the opening of the
2014 MTV Video Music Awards, and won
Best Pop Video for "Problem". Grande and
Nicki Minaj provided guest vocals on "
Bang Bang", the lead single from
Jessie J's album
Sweet Talker, which peaked at number one in the UK and at number three in the US. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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). The track became a modern
Christmas standard, significantly rising in popularity on streaming services during the holiday season every year. 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. 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. 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. Grande was featured on
Cashmere Cat's song
"Adore", which was released in March 2015. In June, 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 Broadcasting Company reality TV series
Knock Knock Live (2015), but the show was canceled before her episode aired. 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. 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), 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.
2015–2018: Dangerous Woman and Sweetener in 2017 Grande began recording songs for her third studio album,
Dangerous Woman, originally titled
Moonlight, in 2015. 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. The next month American singer
Who Is Fancy released the single "
Boys Like You", which features Ariana Grande and
Meghan Trainor. 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. In March 2016, Grande released "
Dangerous Woman" as the lead single from the retitled album of the same name. 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. 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", which charted at number 43 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Grande garnered positive reviews for her appearance on the show, including praise for her impressions of various singers, some of which she had done on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Grande released
Dangerous Woman on May 20, 2016, which debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200. It also debuted at number two in Japan, and at number one in several other markets, including Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and the UK. Mark Savage, writing for
BBC News, called the album "a mature, confident record".
Dangerous Woman was nominated for
Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and the title track for
Best Pop Solo Performance. Aside from music, Grande played Penny Pingleton in the NBC television broadcast
Hairspray Live!, which aired in December 2016. 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. The same month, Grande embarked on her third concert tour, the
Dangerous Woman Tour, to promote the album. 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 over a thousand more. Grande suspended the remainder of the tour and held a televised benefit concert,
One Love Manchester, on June 4, helping to raise $23 million to aid the bombing's victims and affected families. The concert featured performances from Grande, as well as
Liam Gallagher,
Robbie Williams,
Justin Bieber,
Katy Perry,
Miley Cyrus and other artists. To recognize her efforts, the
Manchester City Council named Grande the first
honorary citizen of
Manchester in New York City. In August 2017, Grande appeared in an
Apple Music Carpool Karaoke episode, singing
musical theatre songs with American entertainer
Seth MacFarlane. In December 2017,
Billboard magazine named her "Female Artist of the Year". Grande began working on songs for her fourth studio album,
Sweetener with
Pharrell Williams in 2016. Grande released "
No Tears Left to Cry" as the lead single from
Sweetener in April 2018, 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. In June 2018, she was featured in "
Bed", the second single from
Nicki Minaj's fourth studio album
Queen. 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", peaked at number 8 on the Hot 100 and became Grande's tenth top ten single in the US. Released in August 2018,
Sweetener debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 and received acclaim from critics. 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. In October 2018, Grande participated in the NBC broadcast,
A Very Wicked Halloween, singing "
The Wizard and I" from the musical
Wicked. The following month, the BBC aired a one-hour special,
Ariana Grande at the BBC, featuring interviews and performances.
2018–2019: Thank U, Next In November 2018, Grande released the single "
Thank U, Next" and announced her
fifth studio album of the same name. 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. Since then, it has been certified eight-times platinum in the United States; the song's music video broke records for most-watched music video on YouTube within 24 hours of release and fastest Vevo video to reach 100 million views on YouTube, at the time. 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). "Thank U, Next" was the most-streamed song by a woman globally on
Apple Music in 2019. 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. By the end of the year, she became the most-streamed female artist on Spotify, 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, where she became the youngest and the fourth female artist ever to headline the festival. 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. 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. 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. Spending eight non-consecutive weeks at the summit, it became Grande's most successful song on the chart and was certified diamond in the US. "7 Rings" became 2019's fifth-best-selling song globally, and one of the
best-selling digital singles worldwide.
Thank U, Next was released on February 8, 2019, and debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 while receiving acclaim from critics. The album garnered Grande's largest sales week of all time in the United States (360,000 album-equivalent units). 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. In June 2020,
Thank U, Next was certified double platinum by the RIAA. 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. 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. 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. 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. Grande ended up earning her first Grammy, for
Best Pop Vocal Album, for
Sweetener. The same month, Grande won a
Brit Award for
International Female Solo Artist. 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, and concluded on December 22, 2019. 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. A live album of the tour's setlist, titled
K Bye for Now (SWT Live), was released on December 23. 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. Grande performed at the event via a pre-recorded performance from her Sweetener World Tour. 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. The soundtrack was met with lukewarm reception. A collaboration with
Miley Cyrus and
Lana Del Rey, titled "
Don't Call Me Angel", was released as the lead single on September 13.
Pitchfork wrote that the pop stars "meet at a lower creative common denominator than they've enjoyed lately". The track was nominated for
Best Original Song at the
24th Satellite Awards. In August 2019, she released the single "
Boyfriend" with pop duo
Social House; it debuted at number eight on the Hot 100, and became the first song by a woman to top the
Rolling Stone Top 100 chart. Grande co-wrote singer
Normani's debut solo single "
Motivation", which was released on August 16, 2019. 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". Grande was featured on the remix of American singer and rapper
Lizzo's song "
Good as Hell", which was released on October 25, 2019. 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. Also,
Forbes ranked her amongst the
highest-paid celebrities in 2019, placing at number 62 on the list, while
Billboard ranked her as 2019's highest-paid solo musician. 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. It also ranked as the second-best-performing album on the
Billboard 200 year-end chart of 2019.
2020–2023: Positions In January 2020, Grande received multiple nominations at the 2020
iHeartRadio Music Awards, including
Female Artist of the Year. At the
62nd Annual Grammy Awards, Grande performed a medley of "
Imagine", "
My Favorite Things", "7 Rings", and "Thank U, Next". Her performance was ranked by various publications among the best of the ceremony. 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"). She was named by
Billboard and
The Hollywood Reporter as one of the biggest snubs of the ceremony. 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. 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". Grande appeared on
Lady Gaga's "
Rain on Me", the second single from Gaga's sixth studio album
Chromatica. 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. It won the
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at the
63rd Annual Grammy Awards. In 2020, Grande became the highest-earning woman in music on
Forbess 2020
Celebrity 100 list, placing 17th overall with $72 million. 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". Grande's sixth studio album,
Positions, was released on October 30, 2020. It debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 174,000 units, becoming Grande's fifth number-one album. 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. The
eponymous lead single was released on October 23. 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. It topped the
Pop Airplay chart for seven weeks, surpassing "7 Rings" (six weeks) as Grande's longest-running number-one on the chart. 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. 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. The remix was one of five bonus tracks included on the deluxe edition of
Positions, released on February 19, 2021. 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. "34+35" remained at number one for three consecutive weeks; it also topped the
Rhythmic airplay chart, marking Grande's third leader. 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. Grande was named the most-played artist on
iHeartRadio's stations in 2021, reaching 2.6 billion in audience.
Positions ranked at number eight on the 2021 year-end
Billboard 200 chart. 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. 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. Grande released the concert film for her Sweetener World Tour, Excuse Me, I Love You,'' on December 21, 2020, exclusively on
Netflix. In April 2021, Grande was featured on a remix of
the Weeknd's "
Save Your Tears". The remix reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 and
Canadian Hot 100, becoming both artists' sixth number-one single on both charts. 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. She joined
Paul McCartney as the only artists to earn three number-one duets on the Hot 100. With 69 weeks, the remix is among
longest-charting songs on the Hot 100, and Grande's longest-charting song in the United States. 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. Grande and the Weeknd performed "Save Your Tears" together at the
2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards. In June 2021, Grande featured on the song "I Don't Do Drugs" from Doja Cat's third studio album
Planet Her. 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. The season concluded in December 2021; Grande did not return for the next season. 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. To promote the film, Grande released the song "
Just Look Up", in collaboration with rapper
Kid Cudi, on December 3, 2021. At the
27th Critics' Choice Awards, Grande received nominations in the categories
Best Song and
Best Acting Ensemble, as a part of the cast. She also received a nomination at the
28th Screen Actors Guild Awards for
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. 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. It marked their fourth collaboration. The remix topped the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming both artists' seventh number-one hit. Grande became the artist with the most number-one duets (four) on the chart, surpassing McCartney. According to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), it was the
fourth best-selling song of 2023 globally. On August 25, 2023, Grande released a reissue of her debut studio album,
Yours Truly (Tenth Anniversary Edition). 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.
2024–present: Eternal Sunshine, Wicked, and Petal 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. 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. Both the album and its second single 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. Topping the
Pop Airplay chart for two weeks, "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" marked Grande's tenth number-one. On May 6, 2024, Grande performed at the
Met Gala and was joined on stage by
Cynthia Erivo to close out her performance. "
The Boy Is Mine", which reached the top 20 on the Hot 100, was issued as the third
Eternal Sunshine single in June; a remix featuring
Brandy and
Monica followed later that month. On August 22, 2024, Grande released a reissue of her second studio album,
My Everything, for the tenth anniversary of the record. 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 2024. Grande appeared as the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live on
March 9, 2024, to promote
Eternal Sunshine. She 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. 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. 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). 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?").
Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, a reissue of
Eternal Sunshine, was released on March 28, 2025. Grande starred as the protagonist Peaches in the accompanying short film
Brighter Days Ahead, which she directed and wrote with
Christian Breslauer; it was released on the same day. Her directorial debut, the short film won the
Video of the Year award at the
2025 MTV Video Music Awards. With the release of the reissue,
Eternal Sunshine became Grande's longest-running number one album in the US (three weeks). 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. 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. 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)". She 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. 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". 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. She was cast in November 2021 after auditioning five times for the role. She was credited with her birth name Ariana Grande-Butera, which was her name when she first saw the stage musical at age ten. 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". The first part,
Wicked, was theatrically released in November 2024, followed by the second part,
Wicked: For Good, in November 2025. Critically acclaimed,
Wicked was regarded amongst the best musical films of the 21st century and declared a pop culture phenomenon by various media.
For Good was met with lukewarm reviews and less enthusiasm than its predecessor. Both parts were listed among the top ten films of 2024 and 2025 by the
American Film Institute. The two parts grossed $759 million and $539 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing and third-highest-grossing musical adaptation films of all time, respectively. Grande's performance and comedic timing received praise from critics; she was nominated for supporting actress categories at the
97th Academy Awards, the
82nd and
83rd Golden Globe Awards, the
30th and
31st Critics' Choice Awards, the
31st and
32nd Actor Awards, and the
78th British Academy Film Awards. The
films' soundtracks were co-billed to Grande, who performed several songs from the musical and an original track titled "
The Girl in the Bubble", written by
Stephen Schwartz for the
Wicked: For Good soundtrack. Both albums received positive reviews and debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200 with 139,000 and 122,000 units, tying for the highest debut for a soundtrack to a
stage-to-film adaptation. Grande and her co-star Erivo's rendition of "
Defying Gravity" won
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the
68th Annual Grammy Awards. To promote the
Wicked films, Grande hosted
Saturday Night Live on
October 12, 2024 and
December 20, 2025. Her 2024 episode drew the show's highest ratings since May 2021, at the time, and became its most-watched episode on
Peacock and across social media; the 2025 episode was that year and
season 51's highest-rated and
SNLs most-watched holiday episode since 2020. She and Erivo opened the
97th Academy Awards with a medley of "
Over the Rainbow", "
Home", and "Defying Gravity". In November 2025, Grande appeared in the special
Wicked: One Wonderful Night, performing music from the
Wicked films alongside the cast; a live album of the special was released in tandem with the broadcast. She will embark on
the Eternal Sunshine Tour, her first concert tour since 2019, with 41 shows across North America and England, between June and September 2026. Grande's upcoming film projects include
Focker-in-Law (2026) and an animated film adaptation of
Dr. Seuss's 1990 book ''
Oh, the Places You'll Go! (2028). She will star in the thirteenth season of the horror anthology series American Horror Story, slated for release in September 2026. In the summer of 2027, Grande will make her London stage debut opposite her Wicked'' co-star
Jonathan Bailey in
Marianne Elliott's
Barbican Theatre production of
Sunday in the Park with George. On April 28, 2026, she announced via social media her upcoming eighth studio album titled
Petal, set to be released on July 31, 2026. == Artistry ==