Ariana Grande: the year that redefined her career
Ariana Grande has had many iconic moments during her career; some were playing Cat from “Victorious”, singing “7 Rings” and “Dangerous Woman,” and licking donuts in a bakery. Since then, she certainly hasn’t disappeared; in fact, her new achievements have allowed her to become one of the most versatile and influential artists of 2024.
At the start of 2024, she announced and released her newest single “yes, and?” which broke through her Positions album era by introducing a new genre into her discography. Unlike her previous eras, this track was more mature in lyricism and implemented many interesting musical elements. Some of those elements include a very groovy beat, impressively executed whistle notes in the background, and a fun synth line that will leave you wanting to hear more. Those fragments in the background make the overall vibe of the song more lighthearted, unlike the lyrics. Some of the lyrics include “I won’t hide underneath your projections or change my most authentic life” and “My tongue is sacred, I speak upon what I like,” taking complete autonomy over her thoughts and blocking out her haters. The song gained public approval when it made its debut on the Billboard 100, earning its title of Grande’s sixth number-one debut and eighth overall number-one single.
On Feb. 16, 2024, she released a remix of “yes, and?” featuring her “lifelong inspiration,” Mariah Carey. This addition sparked backlash, due to the song not sounding the same, but Ariana Grande made up for it with her expressive eternal sunshine tracks.
Earlier at the beginning of February, Grande attained a great achievement. Spotify announced a “Billions Club” episode with Ariana Grande to celebrate her becoming the first female artist to reach one billion streams on 14 songs. The episode was released on the 6th of February, showcasing 14 plaques; one plaque for each song that helped her achieve that milestone. The episode reflected on the big moments of her career beautifully, providing loads of nostalgia as they talked about each one.
Her seventh studio album, eternal sunshine, was released on March 8, 2024. On the 10th, she released the “slightly deluxe” edition to streaming services, adding four more songs; the “yes,and?” remix, another remix for “supernatural” with Troye Sivan, an acapella version of “true story,” and an acoustic version of “imperfect for you.”
This album had unique sounds across the board, as well as very emotional lyricism and a very clear subject topic. It opened with the lyric, “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship,” and she taught us how to know throughout the entire album. Some of the most unique sounding tracks were “bye,” a disco-inspired pop track, “the boy is mine,” a R&B track inspired by the song of the same name by Brandy and Monica, as well as “imperfect for you,” a pop song with country roots and gratifying lyrics.
Mariah Carey and Troye Sivan certainly weren’t the last artists Ariana would collaborate with in 2024, and she certainly wasn’t the only feature on “eternal sunshine”. On June 21st, Ariana released the remix for “the boy is mine” featuring Brandy and Monica, creators of the original, which came out more than 25 years earlier. In the bridge of the remix, Brandy and Monica nod to their version of “The Boy Is Mine,” singing, “How could you still be so disillusioned after all of this time? / I told you once before, I’ll tell you once more, the boy is still mine.”
To add onto her list of star studded collaborations, Ariana released a version of “Sympathy is a Knife” with Charli XCX on Oct. 11, 2024. Grande’s spin on “Sympathy Is a Knife” was just one of numerous remixes on Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat, a companion LP to Charli’s blockbuster sixth studio album. On the track, both women delve into their least favorite aspects of fame and the music industry, singing, “It’s a knife when you’re finally on top / ‘Cause logically the next step is they wanna see you fall to the bottom.”
Grande didn’t just have success as a pop superstar, but also as an actress. She auditioned for “Wicked” during 2021, and got casted as Glinda. After three years, the movie was released on Nov. 22, 2024. Her acting job was spectacular, fully embodying the bubbly, charismatic parts of Glinda’s personality. Grande sang perfectly for the role, with wonderfully executed opera notes for “No One Mourns The Wicked” to great blending with Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, in “Defying Gravity.”
The movie was critically acclaimed, getting an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and four nominations for the Golden Globes. “Wicked” did win the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, being their only win at the Globes. The Oscars are coming up on March 2, 2025, and “Wicked” has ten nominations; one of which being Ariana Grande’s nomination for “Best Supporting Actress.”
Those were her mesmerizing moments of 2024, but what else can we see from Grande in 2025? In an interview with Variety, she said that she doesn’t see music coming anytime soon, but she revealed in an interview with Access Hollywood there is a chance we’ll be seeing a full deluxe version of “eternal sunshine” from her this year. The second part of “Wicked,” titled “Wicked”: For Good, will be released on Nov. 21, 2025. Other than that, her 2025 projects are unpredictable. All we know is that she’ll continue to be inspirational and prominent during the year, whether she’s making music, acting, appearing on shows, or maybe even licking donuts at bakeries again.
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