Over 12 years and six albums, Ariana Grande has constantly evolved as her sound and life changed. Take a look at 15 songs that display her ever-expanding versatility and vulnerability.
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GRAMMYS
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JUN 27, 2023 – 12:55 AM
When Ariana Grande first entered the public eye, she played an aspiring artist on Nickelodeon’s Victorious. Amid her character’s sitcom antics, Grande’s musical talent was strikingly apparent (as evidenced by her role in Broadway’s 13 two years prior), and it wasn’t long before Grande was on her way to real-life superstardom.
In the 12 years since she first started releasing music, Grande has evolved into one of the most recognizable, best-selling, and prolific pop stars of her era. Over the course of six albums, Grande has cultivated an instantly recognizable image, from her signature high ponytail to her unmatched ability to hit high notes with ease.
Grande has also shown immense growth from the soft-spoken (but big-voiced) hopeful that fans first met on screen in 2010. She’s experimented with genres and become more vulnerable in her songwriting, setting countless records along the way — carving out her place in the ranks of pop’s greats.
As fans await Grande’s next album — and the highly anticipated film adaptation of Wicked — GRAMMY.com is taking a look at 15 songs that trace how her sound has evolved over the years.
“Put Your Hearts Up” (2011)
To explore Grande’s musical growth, it’s easiest to start at the very beginning. “Put Your Hearts Up” showcases Grande’s voice just fine, but it’s fascinating how different it is from the rest of her discography.
Written by a formidable lineup of songwriters — Linda Perry, Matt Squire, and Martin Johnson — “Put Your Hearts Up” has a nice anthemic chorus and tinge of electronic influence. It largely keeps Grande’s voice in a narrow range, though, and she has gone on record stating that while she has a soft spot for it, it’s ultimately not in line with where she wanted to go as an artist.
“The Way” feat. Mac Miller, Yours Truly (2013)
The first single from her debut album Yours Truly, “The Way” is much more identifiable as a blueprint Grande would expand on over the years. With more R&B influence from writers including Jordin Sparks and Harmony Samuels (who also produced), the track is fun and upbeat — a perfect reintroduction as Grande earnestly began her musical career.
The upper register of Grande’s voice — one of her biggest strengths — is on full display here. Mac Miller‘s verse shows how Grande’s voice can seamlessly meld with rap, and the collab previewed how his relationship with Grande would play a large role in her life and artistry.
“Tattooed Heart,” Yours Truly (2013)
Though it was never released as a single, “Tattooed Heart” is an important piece of understanding Grande’s musical arc. Some of the best work of her career has taken inspiration from soulful pop ballads that recall the music of the 1950s and ’60s, and “Tattooed Heart” is one of her first forays into this world.
With a doo-wop rhythm in the piano and backing vocals, Grande leans into the romanticism at which she excels. The track is also one of the best Yours Truly displays of Grande belting with abandon, a trait that her most beloved tracks have carried over the years.
“Problem” feat. Iggy Azalea, My Everything (2014)
While Grande had a few writing credits on Yours Truly, her sophomore album My Everything is where she started getting more hands-on with the songwriting. This includes the album’s lead single “Problem,” which climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her most successful single at that point.
The song leans into Grande’s strengths with a medley that almost immediately hits high notes, a quicker tempo with an R&B-inspired horn backing, and a bridge that lets Grande bring maximum force and energy on her delivery.
“Love Me Harder” feat. The Weeknd, My Everything (2014)
Collaborations have become a staple within Grande’s career, with her both inviting guest stars and featuring as one herself. One of her most fruitful (and successful) musical team-ups is with The Weeknd, and it all began with “Love Me Harder.”
Their vocal styles complement each other well, both singing with pillowy delivery over the most complex of instrumentals. On “Love Me Harder” the production leans heavily into The Weeknd’s electropop and R&B stylings, a sound that Grande easily thrives in. The pair have continued to work together over the next decade, with their two most recent collabs — 2021’s “Save Your Tears (Remix)” and 2023’s “Die For You (Remix)” — reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100.
“Moonlight,” Dangerous Woman (2016)
Grande’s third album, Dangerous Woman, featured a more mature, nuanced version of the star, starting with the album’s standout ballad “Moonlight.” While she has always excelled at the throwback ballads that pepper her work, she’s never nodded to those influences as explicitly as she does on this track.
The swinging rhythmic snaps and dreamy chimes are pure oldies goodness, and Grande invites direct comparison to icons of the era, with lyrics like “he’s giving me Elvis with some James Dean in his eyes.” It’s a nice nod to those who came before, and allows Grande to showcase her prowess for old-school nostalgia.
“Into You,” Dangerous Woman (2016)
Dangerous Woman thematically finds Grande shedding a bit of her public persona as a teen television star with deeper and more explicit looks into her love life. The album’s second single “Into You” details an electric and fiery attraction Grande is experiencing, doing so with a killer chorus that implores her desired lover to come closer to her. The track also showcases Grande’s movement towards more electronic influence, with producers ILYA and Max Martin putting together a pulsing nightclub instrumental that would light up any dance floor.
“Leave Me Lonely” feat. Macy Gray, Dangerous Woman (2016)
Grande traces her musical influences to numerous artists from the 1950s all the way into the modern day. On “Leave Me Lonely,” she got to sing alongside one of her idols in the form of R&B titan Macy Gray.
The contrast between Gray and Grande’s vocals make for a captivating listen, and highlight Grande’s ever-growing incorporation of R&B into her music. “Leave Me Lonely” gives the two artists ample space to push their vocals to the max, a sign that Grande knows how to get the best out of these collaborations.
“no tears left to cry,” Sweetener (2018)
Despite the name, Grande’s fourth album Sweetener came during one of the darkest stretches of her life. In 2017, her concert in Manchester was the target of a terrorist attack, leaving 22 dead and over a thousand injured. While musically brighter than ever, much of Sweetener is Grande’s attempt to process her grief.
“No tears left to cry” is a rallying cry, a call to move on despite the pain. Still, the ethereal music and scenes in the track’s music video — which see Grande putting on masks of her own face — show glimpses of a woman still grappling with the magnitude of tragedy she’s endured.
“blazed” feat. Pharrell Williams, Sweetener (2018)
As part of the brightening of her sound on Sweetener, Grande brought in Pharrell Williams to help produce and write a sizable part of the album. The results are most evident on the song that features Williams, “blazed.”
The production is Williams in top form, a soulful yet lively instrumental defined by hi-hats and a bluesy swing. Grande matches the energy, delicately floating her voice while Williams comes in with the more pronounced vocal hook. Sweetener marks the only time the pair have worked together, and the result is some of Grande’s most unique work.
“God is a woman,” Sweetener (2018)
From the beginning of her career, Grande has been a proud feminist, fighting against the challenges women face in the music industry and the world at large. She’s sprinkled the message throughout her work, but “God is a woman” is one of her most straightforward feminist anthems.
Across a sultry beat, she advocates for her own pleasure and unapologetically asks for what she wants. It’s a refreshingly pointed statement that women have agency in romance that needs to be respected, and is one of Grande’s clearest statement pieces.
“thank u, next,” thank u next (2018)
After the release of Sweetener, Grande continued to face hardship. A short but intense relationship with Pete Davidson ended, and in September 2018, Mac Miller tragically passed away at the age of only 26.
The result was thank u, next, an album that — even more than Sweetener — was born from a place of immense pain. The album’s title track and first single is sparse compared to the production on her previous outputs, and is one of her most introspective tracks to date. Besides giving an ode to Miller and reflecting on her past relationships with both poise and sass, she also looks back at how her parents’ troubled relationship shaped her.
“fake smile,” Sweetener (2019)
Across all of thank u, next, listeners can hear how much stress Grande is under. With “fake smile,” she acknowledges just how much the previous few years weighed on her. It’s bitingly honest, with her refusal to hide how she’s feeling anymore. (“And I won’t say I’m feeling fine/ After what I been through, I can’t lie,” she sings on the chorus.)
It’s another Grande track that incorporates her love of the past, with a sample from the 1960s track “After Laughter” setting the tone. The bridge is one of her catchiest in her entire catalog, a promise to herself to no longer lie about her feelings.
“positions,” Positions (2020)
With more space to heal, 2020 brought listeners Grande’s sixth album, Positions. The LP keeps some of the more stripped-back production from thank u, next while coming from a more positive, playful headspace.
The title track is a great example of this, with an earworm of an instrumental that’s based around acoustic guitar. If anything, Grande’s voice has also grown stronger over the years, as she delivers some of the high notes on “positions” with more power than fans have ever heard before.
“my hair,” Positions (2020)
Grande has always had a certain level of self-awareness, and that awareness contributes to the sharpness of her writing; that’s especially apparent on “my hair,” one of the sultriest tracks of her discography thus far. Grande knows her hair is closely tied to her image, and lyrics about letting a partner touch it heightens the sense of intimacy of the track. It’s a song that’s as thoughtful and tender as it is impactful — a combination that has epitomized Grande’s growth as an artist.
