Ariana Grande

NAME Ariana Grande-Butera

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Pop singer, songwriter, and actress known for her four-octave vocal range, chart-topping hits, early Nickelodeon roles, and her starring role as Glinda in the 2024 film adaptation of Wicked.

BIRTH Ariana Grande-Butera was born on June 26, 1993, in Boca Raton, Florida. 

FAMILY BACKGROUND Grande is the daughter of Joan Grande, the Brooklyn-born CEO of Hose-McCann Communications, a manufacturer of marine communications equipment owned by the Grande family since 1964, and Edward Butera, a graphic design firm owner in Boca Raton. She is of Italian descent with Sicilian and Abruzzese roots. 

She has an older half-brother, Frankie Grande, who is a dancer, actor, and social media personality.

Her parents separated when she was eight or nine years old, an experience she later described as traumatic and identity-shaking.. 

She had a close relationship with her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Grande. 

CHILDHOOD Stage-obsessed from a young age, Grande performed with the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater, playing her first role as the title character in the musical Annie. She also performed in their productions of The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast. 

At age eight, she performed at a karaoke lounge on a cruise ship and with various orchestras such as South Florida's Philharmonic, Florida Sunshine Pops and Symphonic Orchestras. 

At age 8, she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Florida Panthers' home game against the Chicago Blackhawks on January 16, 2002. 

At age ten, she co-founded the South Florida youth singing group "Kids Who Care," which performed for charitable fund-raising events and raised over half a million dollars for good causes in 2007 alone.

EDUCATION Grande attended Pine Crest School and later North Broward Preparatory School in Florida. Her favorite subject in school was science. 

Grande was once turned away by the teacher who ran her school’s choir club, Pine Crest’s Cool Cats Choir—a tidy origin story for a future pop powerhouse.

She left school to pursue her music career but continued to be enrolled so that her tutors could send her materials and help her study. She graduated in 2012.

CAREER RECORD 2008 Grande's career began at age 15 when she landed a role as Charlotte in the Broadway musical 13, earning her a National Youth Theatre Association Award. 

2010-14 She gained widespread recognition playing Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series Victorious (2010-2013) and its spinoff Sam & Cat (2013-2014). 

2013 Grande launched her music career launched in 2013 with her debut album Yours Truly,

APPEARANCE Grande is 5 feet tall (1.54 meters) and has a birthmark on her left shoulder and a dimple on her left cheek. Her natural hair is brown and curly, though she's famous for her signature high ponytail hairstyle. She has undergone some minor cosmetic procedures over the years.

Grande in 2013 by By Melissa Rose, 

FASHION Grande’s fashion journey has shifted dramatically as her career has unfolded. In her Nickelodeon era (2010–2012), she leaned into a playful, girlish aesthetic with strapless pink dresses and minimal makeup. By 2013–2014, sequins, florals, and other eye-catching details became part of her look, keeping things cute and artsy while adding a touch of flash. Between 2016–2017, her style grew darker, more glamorous, and overtly sultry. A turning point came in 2018, when stylist Mimi Cuttrell refined her image, blending her signature sweetness with polished sophistication and sex appeal.

Grande has cited Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn as enduring influences, and their echoes are visible in her more classic and red-carpet choices. For her Wicked era, she’s leaned heavily into Glinda-inspired fashion, donning custom pink-and-white plaid gowns by Thom Browne and blush-pink Schiaparelli creations encrusted with rhinestones. (1)

Her signature ponytail, once a practical solution to hide damage caused by years of bleaching her hair red for Nickelodeon, has since become her defining style marker. On Instagram, she admitted she wears extensions and the ponytail because her natural hair remains fragile. Alongside it, staples like over-the-knee boots, oversized hoodies, and a monochrome palette form the backbone of her offstage look, while vintage glamour and classic Hollywood silhouettes often shape her red-carpet presence.

CHARACTER Grande's personality is often described as bubbly, empathetic, and family-oriented. She has a strong work ethic and is also a public advocate for mental health and has been open about her struggles with anxiety and PTSD. Grande is resilient and known for turning personal turbulence into pop anthems.

SPEAKING VOICE Grande's speaking voice is often noted for its soft, breathy quality. This is a contrast to her powerful singing voice, which has a broad four-octave range and is known for its ability to handle complex vocal runs.

She is famous for celebrity impressions on talk shows and Saturday Night Live. 

Grande's speaking voice has been a subject of much discussion and controversy. She is known to change her vocal placement intentionally, explaining: "I intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing I'm doing. I've always done this". This includes switching between a deeper, more natural voice and a higher, breathier tone. She attributes this to "habit (speaking like this for two years) and also vocal health" after spending extensive time playing Glinda in Wicked. She has defended this practice, noting that male actors are praised for similar voice changes for roles while women face different scrutiny. (2)

SENSE OF HUMOUR Grande is known for a playful and often sarcastic sense of humor. She frequently uses her social media to share humorous posts and has participated in comedy sketches, including her guest appearances on Saturday Night Live.

RELATIONSHIPS Grande's relationship history includes several high-profile romances. She was engaged to comedian Pete Davidson in 2018, purchasing a $16 million Chelsea apartment together before their relationship ended in October 2018. 

She married real estate agent Dalton Gomez in an intimate ceremony at her Montecito home on May 15, 2021. The couple separated in January 2023 and their divorce was finalized in March 2024, with Grande paying Gomez $1.25 million in the settlement. 

She started dating her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, a relationship that began during filming and sparked controversy as both were married to other people at the time.

MONEY AND FAME Grande has a net worth in the hundreds of millions.  Her wealth comes from music sales, tours, acting roles, endorsement deals with brands like Reebok, Starbucks, and American Express, and her beauty lines including R.E.M. Beauty and fragrance collections.

When she  starred as Glinda in Wicked (2024), reportedly earning $15 million for the role, which became the highest-grossing musical adaptation film of all time.

FOOD AND DRINK Grande has been vegan since 2013, stating "I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole-food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-around happier person".  (3)

Grande follows a macrobiotic Japanese-influenced diet, and eats at least five strawberries daily and snacks on almonds and cashews. She typically has oatmeal or smoothies for breakfast, sushi for lunch, and healthy salads with seeds or nuts for dinner. She drinks coconut water regularly. (4)

She's hypoglycemic, which means her blood sugar can drop rapidly without enough protein and fat. 

ACTING CAREER Ariana Grande’s acting career is a little like one of those scenic rail journeys you don’t expect to amount to much at first, but then you look up and suddenly you’re gliding past the Alps. It begins modestly enough, with a 15-year-old Grande on Broadway in 13 (2008), belting her way through the role of Charlotte and collecting a National Youth Theatre Association Award for her troubles. It was the sort of debut that makes critics write things like “one to watch,” which usually means they’ll forget about you in three weeks, but in her case it actually stuck.

Then came Nickelodeon, where Grande became Cat Valentine in Victorious (2010–13) and later Sam & Cat (2013–14). Cat was ditzy, loveable, and shrill in a way that made teenagers squeal and parents look for the aspirin. The part gave Grande her first national platform and proved she had a natural instinct for comedy, even when saddled with dialogue written for 11-year-olds.

By the mid-2010s she was branching out, as actors do when they realise they might be on television forever otherwise. There was a stint as Penny Pingleton in NBC’s live production of Hairspray (2016), some guest spots in things like Scream Queens (2015), and the usual sprinkling of Nickelodeon movies designed primarily to sell soundtracks.

But the true summit arrived with Wicked (2024). Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film adaptation cast Grande as Glinda the Good Witch opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. She didn’t coast in on her pop fame, either. Grande auditioned five times, retrained herself in acting, and more or less willed her way into the role. And it paid off.

The film premiered in November 2024, and suddenly the world was forced to talk about Ariana Grande not as “the singer who acts a bit,” but as “the actress who can really, actually act.” Critics praised her comic timing, her ability to be both silly and touching in the same breath, and of course that voice, which is never less than thunderous when required. She earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe nod to boot.

In short, she managed to do the very thing no one thought she could: she reframed herself. And that, if you think about it, is rather Glinda-like.

MUSIC CAREER Ariana Grande’s music career is the sort of improbable, rocket-like ascent that usually only happens in fairy tales, or occasionally in Florida. She began, as all good prodigies do, in local theatre—belting songs in children’s productions before she was tall enough to see over the orchestra pit. By eight she had a voice that could peel paint, and by fifteen she was on Broadway in 13, proving she was destined for much bigger things than the Boca Raton community stage. Nickelodeon soon came calling, and with Victorious (2010–13) and Sam & Cat (2013–14), Grande gathered a ready-made fan base of excitable tweens who would, a few years later, become her loyal army of Arianators.

Her breakthrough as a recording artist was almost ridiculously smooth. After uploading cover songs to YouTube, she landed a contract with Republic Records, and in 2013 released Yours Truly. It was sugary R&B-inflected pop, equal parts Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, and it went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The single “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller, shot to the top of iTunes in just seven hours—something even seasoned pop stars would kill for. 

From there, the albums came in a steady drumbeat of chart domination:

My Everything (2014) gave the world “Problem,” and  “Break Free,”  and earned her a Grammy nod.

Dangerous Woman (2016) turned up the glamour and edge, producing slinky hits like “Into You” and “Side to Side.”

Sweetener (2018) won her a Grammy, courtesy of songs like “No Tears Left to Cry” and “God Is a Woman.”

Thank U, Next (2019) was her cultural supernova, home to “7 Rings” and the title track, and it made her the first solo artist in history to occupy the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100—a feat previously achieved only by The Beatles.

Positions (2020) added more sultry R&B influences and, naturally, debuted at No. 1 in both the US and UK.

Collaborations were another feature of her rise: she’s teamed up with everyone from Nicki Minaj to Lady Gaga (on the Grammy-winning “Rain On Me”), Justin Bieber (“Stuck With U”), and The Weeknd. Her tours—The Honeymoon Tour, Dangerous Woman Tour, and Sweetener World Tour—were globe-spanning affairs that made hundreds of millions and left entire stadiums hoarse from screaming.

Then came tragedy in 2017: the Manchester Arena bombing during her Dangerous Woman Tour. Grande responded by returning within two weeks to lead the One Love Manchester benefit concert, which raised $23 million and demonstrated both her resilience and the peculiar way pop music can unite people in the bleakest of times.

Today she sits in the Guinness World Records with over thirty entries to her name, boasts a four-octave range with a whistle register that could summon bats, and commands the kind of cultural influence that makes entire generations copy her hairstyle. If her story has a moral, it’s this: never underestimate a child theatre kid from Florida—because sometimes they grow up and outdo The Beatles.

MUSIC AND ARTS Grande enjoys Japanese pop culture and has been spotted shopping in Harajuku and indulging in Japanese cultural experiences. Her music incorporates various influences, including R&B, pop, and Japanese-inspired elements.

LITERATURE Grande is known to cite poetry and empowering self-reflection in lyrics and posts; gravitates toward diaristic writing in albums like Thank u, Next and Eternal Sunshine.

Grande is a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, with favorite characters being Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy. Several of her dogs are named after Harry Potter characters.

Grande once encouraged her fans on Twitter to "take breaks n read books … you'll feel so much better, your brain will thank u". She has been featured in various literary matchups with her songs being paired with book recommendations.

Grande has shared some of her favorite books over the years, which include: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; The Secret History by Donna Tartt; The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. (5)

NATURE Grande is animal-loving and vocal about animal welfare; enjoys time with her rescue pets and advocates adoption.

PETS Grande is a devoted dog lover with 9-10 dogs. As at 2025, her dogs included Coco (German Shepherd-Dachshund mix, adopted 2010), Toulouse (Beagle-Chihuahua mix, adopted 2013), Ophelia (chocolate Labradoodle, adopted 2013), Sirius Black (Poodle mix, adopted 2015), Pignoli (Beagle-Chihuahua mix, gifted 2017), and others named Cinnamon, Fawkes, Strauss, Lafayette, and Myron. 

She co-founded the non-profit Orange Twins Rescue to help find rescue dogs their forever homes.

Grande has also had goats named Mari and Heir, and a teacup pig named Piggy Smallz.

Ariana is allergic to cats, which is ironic as her Victorious character loved them. 

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Grande enjoys playing Monopoly online with strangers, claiming to be on level 80. She also plays virtual farming games on her iPad. 

A lifelong hockey fan via South Florida roots, she made team history in a way no one would envy: the very first person struck by a puck in the Panthers’ then-brand-new arena was a 5-year-old Ariana Grande. It happened not once, but twice, during the inaugural regular-season game at the BB&T Center in 1998. First, a stray shot from defenseman Gord Murphy clipped her wrist, and then, as if fate was testing her mettle, another puck came flying in from an anonymous Tampa Bay player. If hockey fandom is measured by sacrifice, Ariana Grande was inducted early.

In 2018, while nursing a very public breakup with comedian Pete Davidson, she prescribed herself a bit of retail therapy and marched into Tiffany’s with six friends in tow. Rather than simply browsing the cabinets, she bought them all matching rings. From that shopping trip emerged “7 Rings,” a song that not only topped charts but transformed a bout of sadness into one of the defining pop anthems of the decade.

SCIENCE AND MATHS Grande is a self-described science nerd. Her favorite Instagram feed is @NASA for its astonishing space imagery.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Grande was raised Catholic but distanced herself from the church after learning about their stance on her gay brother. She briefly practiced Kabbalah with her brother but appears to have moved toward a more general spiritual approach. She describes her spirituality as "watching your intentions" and "not giving into your ego". (8)

Grande has referenced religious imagery in her music, including "God is a Woman".

POLITICS Grande is politically active and outspoken about her beliefs. She supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and has advocated for various causes including Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ rights, and gun control reform. She performed at benefit concerts for Charlottesville and participated in March For Our Lives. Grande believes artists should use their platforms to educate and push boundaries, stating: "Not everyone is going to agree with you, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to shut up and sing my songs". (9)

SCANDAL Grande has faced public scrutiny and scandal throughout her career. Notable events include the "doughnut-gate" incident in 2015, where she was caught on video licking doughnuts on a shop counter and saying she "hates Americans," for which she later apologized. 

Her relationship with Ethan Slater sparked controversy as both were married when they began dating, leading to accusations of being a "homewrecker"

She has also dealt with criticism for allegedly demanding behavior and specific interview requirements. Grande typically follows with apology and course-correction.

MILITARY RECORD Grande herself has no military record, but her grandfather Frank enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 30, 1942, and served during World War II.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Grande is hypoglycemic, requiring careful attention to protein and fat intake to maintain blood sugar levels. She works out three times a week with trainer Harley Pasternak, focusing on lower body and arm exercises. Her routine includes curtsy lunges, deadlifts, planks, and glute bridges. She maintains an active lifestyle, walking 12,000+ steps daily. She attributes her improved health to her vegan diet, claiming it has made her work life easier to manage. (10)

Grande publicly discussed PTSD after the Manchester Arena attack.

HOMES Grande has owned several impressive properties. She purchased a $16 million Zaha Hadid-designed apartment in Chelsea, Manhattan in 2018. In 2020, she bought a $13.7 million contemporary home in Hollywood Hills with an infinity pool and wine cellar. She also owned the historic Porter House in Montecito, California (purchased from Ellen DeGeneres for $6.75 million, later sold for $9.1 million), where she married Dalton Gomez in 2021. She currently owns an $8.9 million Bird Streets cottage and a $4.9 million house purchased from Cameron Diaz. 

TRAVEL Due to her career as a touring musician, Grande travels extensively for concerts, appearances, and promotions. She has also vacationed in places like Colorado (staying at the Pulitzer Mansion in Telluride), Disney World, Las Vegas, and Myrtle Beach.

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Beyond her own music videos and tours, Grande has appeared in several films and television shows. Key appearances include her roles in Victorious, Sam & Cat, and Scream Queens. She has also voiced characters in animated films like Snowflake, the White Gorilla and Underdogs. She has been a musical guest and host on Saturday Night Live and a coach on The Voice.

Grande has appeared in documentaries about her tours and has her own YouTube docuseries Dangerous Woman Diaries.

ACHIEVEMENTS Historic Hot 100 sweep of the top three positions (February 23, 2019).

Returned to the stage within two weeks of the Manchester bombing to lead One Love Manchester, raising $23 million; named the first honorary citizen of Manchester.

Her tweet after the bombing — “broken, I am so sorry. I don’t have words” — briefly became the most-liked tweet in history.

Multiple Grammys, #1 albums and singles, billions of streams, and a global fan community—the Arianators.

Sources (1) Enonline (2) Kiss 951 (3) Vegan Food and Living (4) Body Network (5) Venture Book Club (6) Songfacts (7) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (8) Believe Out Loud (9) CNN (10) Women's Health