I chose Ariana Grande because I’m obsessed with her. She is one of the most influential people in my life. Her music, personality, and heart just make me realize a lot about myself and in life in general, it’s crazy how she can have that much impact on someone’s life. I am not ashamed of expressing how I feel about her, how much I’ve learned from her, and how much influence she has on the person that I am today. A lot of people find it ridiculous and stupid how much I love her, but it’s just that she and her music makes so genuinely so happy. Things are a few of the reasons why I admire her so much.
She asserts the values of feminism and female empowerment. She is a role model and fights for what is right. She expresses that people shouldn’t get judged for their sexuality. Throughout her career, she has allowed herself to live, to be whoever she wants, and to do as she pleases without worrying about what people think. It has been a rough year for Ariana. Nonetheless, she keeps going strong, and she doesn’t let media attention get to her. Everything began with the Manchester terrorist attack in 2017 when the eyes of the world were suddenly on her. I thought it was very admirable to see how she empathized with and supported the victims, and how she decided to take some time off to recover, to heal, and to regain her strength after the traumatic experience. After the terrible accident, She held the One Love Manchester concert which was held to honor those lost after the bombing at her concert at the manchester arena two weeks earlier. The concert was extremely powerful, She was so strong throughout the whole couple of weeks and her performance of somewhere over the rainbow was incredible.
Then, it was her break-up with her on-and-off boyfriend, Mac Miller. Once again, her private life was the talk of the town, and after the rapper’s DWI incident, comments on social media seemed to blame her for Miller’s behavior, with various publications stating that her breaking up with him and getting engaged with Pete Davidson was triggering Miller’s behavior. Later on, Miller’s death and the calling-off of her engagement was simply a lot.
Grande has been open about the pain that fame can bring sometimes. By being straightforward and sincere with her fans, she has gained their respect and admiration. As she asks for respect and demands to have some space for herself, she presents herself as vulnerable and human. For instance, she has mentioned that therapy saved her life. By doing this, she encourages those around her and the people she inspires to do the same.
Grande was born on June 26, 1993, in Boca Raton, Florida, to parents of Italian heritage. She is the daughter of Joan Grande, a CEO of a marine communications company, and Edward Butera, a graphic design firm owner (Farber, Jim). However, the marriage of her parents did not last long, as they separated when Grande was about 8 years old (Goodman, Lizzy).
Ariana Grande started as a child actress and musical theater singer and realized herself in singing R&B music, among other genres. She was a child prodigy and had good backing from managers throughout her career, making it easier to land roles in television series, films, and getting a record contract to sing. Now, through her talent and hard work, she has become one of the most influential and beloved singers in the world.
These are some of Ari’s achievements: In 2009 Ariana was cast as Cat Valentine in the show Victorious. The show aired for 3 years. In 2013, her debut album, Yours Truly went No. 1on the charts. That same year, Ariana received an American Music Award for Best New Artist. My Everything, her second album, was released at the top of the charts in 2014. Ariana was asked to sing at the 2014 White House Women of Soul concert and performed “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston. Ariana won the Young Influencer award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2014. In 2015, Ari scored a starring role in Season 1 of Ryan Murphy’s FOX dark comedy, Scream Queens. In 2016, Ariana made her return to musicals, starring as Penny Pingleton in NBC’s Hairspray Live.
In 2016, Ariana releases her third album, Dangerous Woman, and becomes the first artist to have the lead singles from her first three albums debut in the Top 10. Ariana and John Legend performed the title track for 2017’s live-action Beauty and the Beast film. Ariana organized and performed at a benefit concert honoring the victims of the Manchester bombing, raising millions for the victims and their families. Ariana goes back to her musical theatre roots again, performing The Wizard and I for Wicked’s 15th Anniversary. In November 2018, Ariana scored her first No.1 hit on the Hot 100 with “thank u, next”. Although she did not attend the awards, Ariana won her first Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album, Sweetener. Ariana became the third female artist with multiple number-one debuts after Mariah Carey and Britney Spears, and fifth artist overall after the release of thank u, next. Ariana’s Sweetener World Tour grossed $146 million in 2019. She became the youngest Coachella headliner in the festival’s 20-year history. The “thank u, next” singer is the highest-paid female musician on the 2020 Celebrity 100.
These two pictures are from my music video/song from her “God is a woman”. I recommend you to watch this masterpiece. The meaning of the video/song is basically about women’s empowerment. The Thinker is a bronze sculpture of a male figure deep in thought. In the video, Ariana co-opts the image and puts herself in that position, denouncing the conflation of masculinity and intelligence. Female empowerment is further shown in the third picture where Ariana stands in front of these women. Ariana goes against societal norms and tells women they should be able to show themselves, she also stands in front of them suggesting she is protecting them. Last but not least, Ariana adapts Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam so that it only features women and quite frankly it’s never looked better. There’s a lot more in the video but I want you to see it yourself.
In conclusion, I’m really happy that I found her music. She helped me get through a lot of difficult situations in my life, and still getting me through so much. I learned how much about life and how I should be pursuing my dreams without letting anyone tell me otherwise and bringing me down to not see me succeed. She helped me be more caring and loving to myself and the ones around me. She helped me be more confident about myself and be able to express myself without caring about other people’s opinions. She inspires me every single day to be a better person and to follow my dreams and will always do that until I die.
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