How did Ariana Grande get famous?
While some people see it as good fortune or being born into opportunity, Ariana Grande’s influence in her ascent to success cannot be discredited. Ariana Grande has worked in the entertainment industry for quite a long time, and has incrementally become more successful, and famous, as her career has progressed across many different areas in the industry.
And so while Ariana’s success story may not match the “rags to riches” that other successful artists have achieved, it cannot be denied that her achievements have come from persistence and smart decision-making.
Let’s retread and find out what led her to become the global popstar she is today.
Early Childhood
Ariana is known to have been born in Boca Raton, Florida — however her family lived in New York prior to her being born. With a father that worked as a graphic designer, and a mother who ran a communications equipment manufacturer business, Ariana had two successful parents to raise her.
Ariana attended Pine Crest School and North Broward Preparatory School, two private schools located in Florida.
Their parents split when Ariana was a child, and has maintained a significantly close relationship with her mother since.
Broadway Beginnings
Broadway served as Ariana’s first avenue into music and entertainment. While still young, she played as Annie in a musical run by Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater, along with other musicals.
However, not being one to shy away from the spotlight, Ariana also performed with several orchestras and even sang the national anthem for the Florida Panthers in a televised performance.
The development of her work and performance experience likely played a factor in her landing the role of Charlotte in the Broadway musical “13” in 2008. This would be one of Ariana’s last appearances in the Broadway realm, as the attention she received to this point was enough to get the attention of Nickelodeon.
Television Debut & Youtube Discovery
In 2009 Ariana won the role of Cat Valentine on the tv series “Victorious” on Nickelodeon. The show proved to be successful, running for three years on the network and garnering high viewership in its early seasons.
The tv show involved many musical sequences that allowed Ariana to showcase her noticeably strong singing talent. At the same time, Ariana capitalized on her expanded fanbase by posting several performances on Youtube covering songs by famous singers. These videos ultimately helped her land the attention of Republic Records
In December 2011 Ariana released her first single, “Put Your Hearts Up”, that achieved moderate success and was her first official appearance in the music industry as a solo artist. The single is not representative of the type of music Ariana is known for, especially noting the artists she’s described as being a strong influence to her musically. It is likely for this reason why she continued to work on music while filming “Victorious” that would take part in her album debut, “Yours Truly”, which would feature a stronger r&b presence than her initial single.
Check out Ariana Grande cover “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys here.
Music Maturity
Ariana went on to release three more albums — “Dangerous Woman”, “Sweetener”, and “Thank U, Next” — the last of which spawned multiple number one singles, the first of her career.
“Dangerous Woman” moved Ariana into more mature content, becoming her first album with songs marked as “explicit”, such as “Side to Side” ft Nicki Minaj and “Everyday” ft Future. The album achieved commercial success and allowed Ariana to continue tapping into the r&b influence of her music.
Progressively as Ariana created more music, the writing and source material became pronouncedly more personal. This first became evident on the album “Sweetener”, where Ariana addresses the devastating 2017 Manchester Arena bombing that took place at one of her concerts, the trauma associated with the aftermath of the incident, as well as her engagement to comedian Pete Davidson, which happened around the time of its debut.
Personal & Artistic Growth
Through songs such as “no tears left to cry”, “breathin”, “everytime”, “pete davidson”, and “get well soon”, Ariana provided the most personal glimpse of her feelings and life compared to previous albums. This trend would follow the next album, “Thank U, Next”, which was released only months after “Sweetener” and tackled the death of Mac Miller, with whom Ariana was in a relationship for over a year and had recently broken up with, and the ending of her relationship, and engagement, with Pete Davidson.
Significant media attention was given to the multitude of incidents surrounding Ariana around this time, with much of it being sympathetic to the situations she found herself placed in. Despite the hectic period that marked these two albums, they produced some of Ariana’s best work to date, both musically and commercially.
In 2019 Ariana headlined Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and performed material from her recent albums, while also completing the “Sweetener World Tour” across North America and Europe. Her coachella performance and tour were met with positive feedback from critics, who complimented the stage design as well as Ariana’s vocal ability.
At the conclusion of the “Sweetener World Tour”, Ariana released her first live album titled “K Bye for Now (SWT Live)”, which features performances from her tour, at the conclusion of her last performance.
Watch Ariana Grande’s interview with Zach Sang about her album, “thank u, next” here.
Controversy with rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine
In May 2020, Ariana and Justin Bieber released the duet “Stuck with U” as a charity single during the covid-19 global pandemic. The single debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which sparked pushback from rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine who believed their single achieved the feat due to illegal chart manipulation. This occurred during the release of his single, “GOOBA”, which debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ariana, Justin Bieber, and Billboard responded to the claims by doubling down on the validity of Billboard Hot 100 tracking and the measures put in place to prevent chart manipulation.
Conclusion: How did Ariana Grande get famous?
Now that the history of Ariana’s climb to fame has been discussed, the question, “How did Ariana Grande get famous?” becomes more clear.
Ariana Grande grew up with fortunate opportunities by being raised in a well-off family, who likely helped her find the early Broadway roles she won as a child.
However, Ariana Grande’s own work ethic in not only training her voice, but also taking the initiative to showcase her talent on Youtube, played a much bigger role in her success. And since the other stars on the Nickelodeon TV show, “Victorious”, have not achieved the same level of success as Ariana, her impact over her success should not be overlooked.
