Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Following her debut at age 15 in the 2008 Broadway musical 13: The Musical, she gained popularity when she played the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon TV series, Victorious, and afterwards portrayed the same character on the spin-off with iCarly, Sam & Cat.

Following her contract deal with Republic Records in 2011, Grande released her US chart-topper debut studio album Yours Truly in 2013, while the lead single “The Way, with Mac Miller,” charted in the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100. Yours Truly was met critical acclaim, with music critics praising Grande’s wide vocal range.

Grande’s second studio album, My Everything (2014) debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200, and spawned five singles, all of which were international successes. The lead single, “Problem”, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and has been certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in March 2016. In 2016, Grande released her third studio album Dangerous Woman, which charted at number two on the Billboard 200.

The album spawned four singles including the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten’s “Dangerous Woman”, and “Side To Side”, peaking at numbers 8 (Dangerous Woman), and 4 (Side to Side), while “Into You” peaked at 13 in the US, respectively. Her personal struggles influenced her trap-infused fourth and fifth studio albums, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019), which were both critical and commercial successes. The former won Grande a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, while the latter received five nominations, including Album of the Year. With the singles off Thank U, Next–”Thank U, Next, “7 Rings”, and “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored”–Grande became the first solo artist to occupy the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.

In 2020, her collaborations “Stuck with U” with Justin Bieber and “Rain on Me” with Lady Gaga helped her break the record for most number-one debuts on the Hot 100, while the latter won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Grande’s sixth studio album, Positions (2020), and its title track, debuted at number-one in the United States. In 2021, Grande was featured on the remix of The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears”, and the song became her sixth number-one in the US.

Since her debut in 2013, Grande has been certified for 85.5 million units in the U.S.—making her the eighth most RIAA-certified woman of all time. Having amassed 90 billion consumed streams thus far, Grande is the most streamed female artist ever. She is also the most streamed female artist on Spotify and Apple Music. She has amassed 70 chart entries on the Billboard Hot 100—the fourth most entries for a female artist—including six number ones and 19 top-10 hits.

Grande holds several Billboard Hot 100 chart records; she is the only artist to have five number-one debuts, to have their first five number one singles debut at the top spot, to have three number one-debuts in one calendar year, and to have all lead singles from each of her first six studio albums debut in the top ten. In 2018, Billboard honored Grande as Woman of the Year. As of 2019, Grande has been the most followed woman on Instagram, with over 240 million followers.