Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande-Butera (/ˌɑːriˈɑːnə ˈɡrɑːndeɪ bjʊˈtɛərə/ AR-ee-AH-nə GRAHN-day byuu-TAIR-ə;^{[note 1]} born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon, she is noted as an influential figure in popular music and as one of the most prominent vocalists of her generation for her four-octave vocal range and signature whistle register. Grande has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including one Brit Award, two Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, nine MTV Video Music Awards, and 35 Guinness World Records. Rolling Stone ranked her amongst the greatest singers of all time.

Grande began her career at age 15 by appearing in the Broadway musical 13 (2008). She rose to prominence for her performance as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious (2010–2013), and signed with Republic Records in 2011. Grande's debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013), incorporated retro-pop and R&B elements and yielded the successful single "The Way". My Everything (2014), her second album, experimented with EDM and catapulted her to worldwide stardom through the singles "Problem", "Break Free", and "Bang Bang". Grande further explored pop and R&B with her third album Dangerous Woman (2016), which solidified her critical and commercial success.

Personal struggles influenced Grande's trap-infused fourth and fifth albums, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019). The former won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, while the latter broke several streaming records and was nominated for Album of the Year. Thank U, Next garnered two Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs with its title track and "7 Rings", and made Grande the first solo artist to simultaneously occupy the top three positions on the chart. She broke the record for the most number-one debuts in Hot 100 history with the title track of her sixth album, Positions (2020), and the collaborations "Stuck with U" with Justin Bieber and "Rain on Me" with Lady Gaga, the latter of which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Grande achieved three further number-ones with two The Weeknd collaborations and "Yes, And?" from her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine (2024). She returned to acting with the political satire Don't Look Up (2021), and will star as Glinda in the upcoming two-part film adaptation of Wicked (2024–2025).

Among the world's best-selling music artists, Grande has sold over 90 million records; all of her studio albums have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Having amassed 98 billion streams thus far, Grande is one of the most-streamed artists of all time and the most-streamed female artist, as of 2021. She was the most-streamed female act of the 2010s and has the most songs with over a billion streams for a woman, with 14 on Spotify. Grande also has a large social media following; with over 380 million followers, she is the sixth-most-followed individual on Instagram and one of the most-subscribed and most followed musicians on YouTube and Spotify. She was named Woman of the Year (2018) and the most successful female artist to debut in the 2010s by Billboard, featured in listicles such as Time 100 (2016 and 2019), Forbes Celebrity 100 (2019–2020), and ranked the highest-paid female musician of 2020 by Forbes. Outside of music and film, Grande has worked with many charitable organizations and advocates for animal rights, mental health, and gender, racial, and LGBT equality. Her business ventures include R.E.M. Beauty, a cosmetics brand launched in 2021, and a fragrance line that has earned over $1 billion in global retail sales.

Appearing on SNL[]

On SNL, Ariana Grande made her musical guest debut and performed "Break Free" and "Love Me Harder" with special guest The Weeknd from Ariana's second album My Everything on September 27, 2014, which is the Season 40 premiere of Saturday Night Live, hosted by actor Chris Pratt. On the same episode, Grande also appeared as She-Ra in the "Action Figures" sketch.

On March 12, 2016, the fifteenth episode of Season 41, Ariana Grande hosted for the first time, as well as her 2nd musical guest appearance and performed "Dangerous Woman" and "Be Alright".

She returned to Saturday Night Live to made her 3rd musical guest appearance on March 9, 2024, the fourteenth episode of Season 49, hosted by actor Josh Brolin, which he returned to host for 3rd time and his first appearance in 12 years, 11 months and 7 days. She performed "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" and "Imperfect For You". She also appears in the "People Pleaser" sketch and the "Moulin Rouge!" sketch.