The Year in Music 2019: Ariana Grande says “thank u, next” to a banner year
Republic RecordsAriana Grande said “thank u, next” in 2019, and what came next was a year filled with success.
The singer kicked off the year by releasing her song “7 Rings” in January, followed shortly after by her thank u, next album on February 8. Both the song and the album hit number one on the charts and were later nominated for multiple Grammys at the upcoming 62nd annual Grammy Awards.
thank u, next also led to a chart feat for Ari. With the songs “7 Rings,” “break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored” and “thank u, next,” she became the first artist to be #1, #2 and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously since The Beatles did it in 1964.
In March, Ariana launched her Sweetener world tour and was on the road for most of the year, wrapping things up on December 22. It proved to be her biggest tour yet, and she documented it with a live album.
Ariana’s most-talked-about show, however, was arguably her headlining Coachella set where she orchestrated one of the biggest reunions of the year: She enlisted *NYSNC — minus Justin Timberlake — to perform with her. The band sang and danced with Ari, and she filled in JT’s part of the boy band’s song “It Makes Me Ill,” which she interpolated into “break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored.” They also performed the group’s classic, “Tearin’ Up My Heart.”
This was also a year of Ariana getting to work with her idols. In addition to *NSYNC, she got to work with Jim Carrey on his Showtime comedy series, Kidding, duetted with Barbra Streisand at Babs’ Chicago concert, sang with Kristin Chenoweth on her For the Girls album, and duetted with Idina Menzel on her holiday album, Christmas: A Season of Love. She also expressed her love and support for Senator Bernie Sanders, appearing in a number of photos with the presidential hopeful.
Ari also got to co-executive produce the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack, teaming up with Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey on the lead single, “Don’t Call Me Angel,” and several other tracks on the album.
After last year’s high-profile engagement and subsequent breakup with Pete Davidson and the loss of her ex, Mac Miller, Ariana’s personal life was relatively quiet in 2019. She was briefly rumored to be dating Mikey Foster from the duo Social House, who opened for her on tour. The relationship was never confirmed, but Ari and Social House did release a track together called “boyfriend,” also nominated for a Grammy this year.
In the fashion and beauty world, Ariana was named the face of Givenchy, and she released her new thank u, next fragrance.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
