Ariana Grande-Butera was born in June 26, 1993, known professionally as Ariana Grande, she is an American singer and actress. Ariana Grande-Butera was born in Boca Raton, Florida, to Joan Grande, chief executive officer of telephone and alarm system company Hose-McCann Communications, and Edward Butera, who owns a graphic design firm in Boca Raton. Her name was originally inspired by Princess Oriana from Felix the Cat (1959). Grande is of Italian descent, and has stated that she is “half Sicilian and half Abruzzese”. She has a half-brother, Frankie Grande, who was ten years old when she was born, and became an actor and producer. Grande’s mother moved with her father from New York to Florida when she was pregnant with her. She has stated that her parents split up when she was around 8 or 9 years old.
By age 13, she became serious about pursuing a music career, though she still concentrated on theater. When she first arrived in Los Angeles to meet with her managers, she expressed a desire to record an R&B album (when she was 14):
I was like, ‘I want to make an R&B album,’ They were like ‘Um, that’s a helluva goal! Who is going to buy a 14-year-old’s R&B album?!’
In 2008, Grande was cast in the supporting role of cheerleader Charlotte in the musical 13 on Broadway, for which she won a National Youth Theatre Association Award. When she joined the musical, Grande left her high school, North Broward Preparatory School, but continued to be enrolled. The school sent materials to her so she could study with tutors. She also sang various times at the New York City Jazz club Birdland.
She began her career in the Broadway musical 13, before landing the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television series Victorious in 2009. After the show ended, Grande rose to prominence as a teen idol on her own spinoff, Sam & Cat, which ended in 2014.
Grande’s music career began with the soundtrack Music from Victorious (2011). She signed a recording contract with Republic Records and released her debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013), which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. The album’s lead single, “The Way”, became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, with critics comparing her wide vocal range to Mariah Carey.
In the 2013 Nickelodeon film Swindle, an adaptation of the children’s book of the same name, Grande played Amanda Benson, along with her Sam & Cat co-star, McCurdy. It premiered on Nickelodeon in August. That same month, she lent her vocals on the duet “Almost Is Never Enough” with Nathan Sykes of the British boy band The Wanted. She also joined Justin Bieber on his Believe Tour for three shows and kicked off her own headlining tour, The Listening Sessions. At the 2013 American Music Awards, she won the award for New Artist of the Year and was the most mentioned artist on Twitter that night.
Grande’s second studio album, My Everything (2014), also reached number one in the United States. It contained the hit singles “Problem” and “Break Free”. Some of her honors include New Artist of the Year at the 2013 American Music Awards, Breakthrough Artist of the Year by the Music Business Association, “Best Pop Video” at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, “Best Song” and “Best Female” at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, and two Grammy Awards nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. With songs “Break Free”, “Problem”, “Bang Bang” and “Love Me Harder”, she spent 34 continuous weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and had the most top 10 singles of any artist in 2014.
Ariana Grande is also a philanthropist – At the age of ten, Grande co-founded the South Florida youth singing group Kids Who Care, which performed for charitable fund-raising events, raising over $500,000 for charities in 2007 alone. In the summer of 2009, as a member of the charitable organization Broadway in South Africa, Grande performed and taught music and dance to children in Gugulethu, South Africa along with her brother Frankie. Grande also partnered with Kleenex on its “Shield Sneeze Swish” campaign. After watching Blackfish, she urged fans to stop supporting SeaWorld and has become a vegan.
She was featured on Seventeen magazine in a March 2013 public campaign “Delete Digital Drama” to end online bullying along with Bridgit Mendler and Kat Graham. In September 2014, Grande participated at the charitable Stand Up to Cancer television program, performing the title track “My Everything” in dedication to her grandfather, who had died from cancer in July.
Grande possesses a four-octave light lyric soprano vocal range. With the release of her debut album, Yours Truly (2013), Grande has been deemed the “mini Mariah Carey” and the “new Mariah Carey” by critics due to her wide vocal range, sound and musical material. Speaking on the comparisons, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Billboard wrote that both Carey and Grande “got the talent to let their vocals do the talking.” Grande expressed her feelings towards being compared to Mariah Carey as a “huge compliment” and a “blessing”, she often cites both Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston as influences for her work. In another interview, she said:
I mean, it’s a huge compliment, but when you hear my entire album, you’ll see that Mariah’s sound is much different than mine.
Her impressive vocal display at the 2013 American Music Awards, earned praise from celebrities like Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga, which saw Grande singing acappella to her hit “The Way” and a Motown-style performance of “Tattooed Heart.” During an interview with Sirius XM, American pop singer Katy Perry praised Grande, saying,
she has the best female vocal in pop music today. She has literally the best voice, the best voice live.
In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Coldplay‘s frontman Chris Martin also commended Grande’s vocal ability when he was asked if a duet with her was a possibility, to which he said
I would man, but she can sing so much better than me. I don’t want to be humiliated in that fashion, I was in the car yesterday and “Problem” was on, I was like, ‘I just can’t do that.
From August 2012 to July 2013, she was in a relationship with Jai Brooks, a member of the Australian YouTube group The Janoskians. Grande dated The Wanted member Nathan Sykes for three months in 2013. On May 1, 2014, Grande was photographed kissing Brooks and confirmed that they were back together but split for a second time three months later. On October 13, 2014, Grande confirmed that she is dating rapper Big Sean after reports have been circulating since August of that year.
Grande was raised a Roman Catholic but abandoned Catholicism after becoming disillusioned with the church during the reign of Pope Benedict, including the church’s opposition to gay marriage. Grande stated,
I lost faith when the Pope decided to tell me that everything I loved and believed in was wrong. I needed something else to believe in.”
Grande has received two Grammy Awards nominations. She has won an American Music Award, an MTV Video Music Award out of four nominations, and two MTV Europe Music Awards out of six nominations. In 2013, Grande received an award from the Music Business Association for her excellence over her debut year. The next year at the IHeartRadio Music Awards, Grande received a special award for Best Young Influencer, along with another nomination. At the Bambi Awards, she received an award for Best Newcomer. In addition, Grande won a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Best Actress for her TV show Sam & Cat. In 2014, she received Billboard’s Women in Music Award as a Rising Star for her accomplishments in 2014.
Recently she was featured alongside Nicki Minaj in the pop single “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, and Chris Brown’s “Don’t be gone too long”.
Ariana Grande is America’s sweetheart and she has only just begun.
The post Hollywood sweetheart, Ariana Grande appeared first on TalksFriendite .