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Ariana Grande has been one of the most popular vocalists in music since her debut album was released in 2013. The young singer got her start on Nickelodeon in the series Victorious and its spin-off Sam & Cat. From there, she worked on music, getting the attention of record labels thanks to her covers on YouTube.
While Grande is known for her incredible vocal range, her lyrics have often been quite personal. In 2018, Grande began a three-album run that would see her exploring her innermost thoughts and feelings. The albums “Sweetener,” “Thank U, Next,” and “Positions” contain some of Grande’s most personal work.
Here are eight highlights from those albums and the personal stories behind them.
8/8 Breathin
Ariana Grande has been open about many issues she’s dealt with in her music. On this track, she opens up about her anxiety.
“[The song] is about breathing… like, when you’re anxious,” Grande said. “It’s about anxiety and feeling like you can’t… you know, when you can’t get a full breath? It’s like the worst feeling in the whole world. It’s a song about that feeling.”
The song was released as the final single from Grande’s album “Sweetener” in 2018. Promotion for the single ran short, however, due to the title track from her follow-up, “Thank U, Next,” being released shortly afterwards.
7/8 Pete Davidson
In June 2018, Grande became engaged to Pete Davidson. At the time, she was working on her album “Sweetener” and wrote this song for him. The track was initially titled “Pete,” but Grande decided to add Davidson’s last name to the title as well.
Of the title, Grande said, “I like the way it looks. I love his name and I love him. Music lasts forever. It’ll outlive any tattoo, any memory, any anything—even myself; so I want my love for him and how I feel to be a part of that.”
6/8 Get Well Soon
On May 22, 2017, a suicide bomber attacked several concert-goers at the Manchester Arena following a show on Grande’s “Dangerous Woman World Tour.” The attack left Grande heartbroken while experiencing severe anxiety. On this song, Grande added 40 seconds of silence to the end of the track to pay respect to those who lost their lives during the attack. This also brought the song’s length to five minutes and 22 seconds. It is the closing track on Grande’s “Sweetener” album.
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5/8 Fake Smile
After the release of “Sweetener,” Grande experienced the loss of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller. She also called off her engagement to Pete Davidson, resulting in a lot of media attention. Grande wrote and recorded her next album, “Thank U, Next,” which was released months later in 2019. This song talks about Grande feeling unhappy with her life and not willing to fake a smile, as celebrities are often expected to. In the song, she hints at the media attention she receives while adding that she’s still grateful for her life.
4/8 Ghostin
During the writing of “Thank U, Next,” Grande was still mourning the loss of her ex Mac Miller. While nobody has confirmed whether this song was inspired by him, many believe it was. Some speculate that it samples Miller’s song “2009.” The song talks about a person feeling heartbroken over losing an ex while in a relationship with someone else. The lyrics express guilt for neglecting the new love, because of the sadness over the loss. When Miller died, Grande was engaged to Pete Davidson. During an interview with Zach Sang, Grande said she almost didn’t include this song on the album, but was talked into it.
3/8 In My Head
This song starts with a message Grande received from her best friend, Doug Middlebrook. During her interview with Zach Sang, Grande revealed that she initially wanted to use another quote at the beginning of the song.
“It was funny ‘cause we had a different quote from a movie there. It was Jack Nicholson saying, ‘You seem to have things strangely confused in your mind.’ We couldn’t clear it unfortunately. I like this so much more ‘cause I was like: Doug was such an incredible friend to me during that time and I don’t know if I would’ve gotten myself out of certain unhealthy situations if it hadn’t been for his help. [He] also says ‘in your head,’ which is wild.”
2/8 Thank U, Next
After Grande and Davidson called off their engagement in 2018, the SNL star poked fun at the situation during an episode. In a since-deleted tweet, Grande seemed to be firing back at Davidson, writing, “for somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh.” She then tweeted, “thank u, next,” which would become her mantra, the lead single, and title track from her next album. In the song, Grande names her past exes and expresses gratitude for the relationships, despite them not working out. The lyrics talk about how grateful she is to have learned from each experience in her life.
1/8 POV
This song closed Grande’s most recent album, “Positions.” Grande explained the song’s meaning during an interview with Zach Sang.
“Of course, of course you love yourself before you’re able to fully love someone else, of course. And, this isn’t really about that, it’s just kind of about, you know how everyone has the little things that you’re like ‘Eugh! How could you like that?’ And you see someone who you’re madly in love with, love that and you’re just kinda like, ‘I’m floored’…It’s like ‘Oof, I wanna feel that.’”
In 2021, this song was released as the album’s final single. That same year, Grande married Dalton Gomez, who is said to have inspired much of the material on this album.
