Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, charity worker, philanthropist and feminist. There´s many strings to Ariana Grande´s bow these days… and at 22 that´s quite an impressive instrument!
Mind you like her touring partner Bieber, Ariana started young. Born in Florida to middle class parents, Ariana won numerous leads in local theatre before landing her big break in 13 on Broadway aged 14. Having showcased her musical and acting ability, she was plucked from relative obscurity to take the lead as Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon hit TV series Victorious in 2009. After recording the Victorious soundtrack, Ariana then landed a six-figure recording deal with Republic Records. Her debut album Yours Truly catapulted her to number 1 in the US Billboard Chart.
Less than a year later she brought out a much-anticipated follow up album My Everything, which also went straight to the number one slot. Popular tracks including “Bang Bang”, “Break Free” and “Love Me Harder” propelled her to 34 continuous weeks in the top 10 and she boasted the most top 10 singles of any artist in 2014 – overtaking Rihanna.
After a break from the recording studio to complete her first ever world tour in 2015, she also guest-starred in the Fox Comedy Series Scream Queens. Ariana is now close to releasing her third studio album and it´s tipped to be her best one yet. Her mum took to Twitter saying her daughter’s vocals on the new album “are to die for.” Of course your mum would say that we hear you say! But… for a singer and lyricist who has the widest vocal range of any young talent out there – akin to none other than Mariah Carey – expect some huge smashes from this pint sized popstar later this year.
FEMINIST FATALE
Despite being so young, Ariana has definitely waded into a mature discussion – feminism. Ariana has been very vocal on her views and regularly uses her public profile to discuss matters of misogyny and sexism in the media.
“I know y’all already know this but the double standard and misogyny are still ever present,” she said. “I can’t wait to live in a world where people are not valued by who they’re dating/married to/attached to, having sex with (or not) seen with… but by their value as individuals. I want the people reading this to know they are MORE THAN enough on their own.”
Ariana added, “If a woman has a lot of sex (or any sex for that matter)… she’s a ‘slut.’ If a man has sex…. he’s. a stud, a boss, a king. If a woman even talks about sex openly she is shamed! But if a man talks or raps freely about all the women (or more commonly used ‘bitches’/’hoes’…how lovely) he’s had…he is regaled. This has got to change.”
What not a lot of people know is that Ariana comes from a long bloodline of female activists. Her aunt Judy was the first Italian American female president of the national press club in Washington DC and a Pulitzer Prize winner before she died of cancer in 2008. Her grandmother and aunt were also linked to the famous feminist Gloria Steinem. Ariana recently posted a tweet of Judy and Gloria together saying “Queen´s of My Heart.”
PHILANTHROPIST
Ariana was brought up in a strict Roman Catholic family but turned her back on Catholicism during the reign of Pope Benedict, citing opposition to the church´s stance on homosexuality. Ariana´s brother Frankie is openly gay and she says she cannot support a religion that does not believe in homosexuality. She has followed Kabbalah teachings (like her brother) since the age of 12 believing that if you are kind to others good will happen to you.
She has also always fought passionately for matters that lie close to her heart. At the age of 10, she co-founded the South Florida youth singing group Kids Who Care, which raised over $500,000 for charities in 2007 alone. She has also featured in anti-bullying, Stand up to Cancer and animal cruelty campaigns. Her latest venture is with MAC Cosmetics, where she has launched a line of lip products where all of the profits go to helping people with HIV and Aids.
DIVA FEVER
It´s not all been plain sailing for Ariana Grande however. She has been accused by fans and the media for being a bit of a diva in the past. This mostly comes from accusations that she demands to be photographed and filmed from the left side. E! presenter Giuliana Rancic revealed that Ariana’s team asked her to switch sides so Ariana could film only showing her left side! Apparently it has something to do with liking her dimple which is more pronounced on this cheek.
Plus a recent blog post by Dan O’Connor made headlines when he described a negative experience he and his daughters had when meeting Ariana during a special fan contest in connection with the MTV VMAs. Dan’s daughter had a won a special fan-art contest, and the family was given a chance to meet Ariana backstage. Apparently, she was rude to his daughters, refusing to make small talk and not even asking their names. He also claims that Ariana made his daughters delete photos they had taken of themselves handing their winning fan art to her. Later, after the post went viral, a different fan shared an alleged DM conversation with Ariana over Twitter, where she claimed she only walked away from them because the art featured her late grandfather and she “didn’t want them to see her cry.”
Whatever happened at the VMA´s is left unresolved as its Dan´s word against Arianas. What we do know is that this 22 year-old star shows no sign of fading, with 2016 set to be her biggest year yet. Watch this space.
