Grande's second studio album, My Everything (2014), continued the pop-R&B sound of its predecessor and incorporated EDM elements. It topped the Billboard 200 and featured four US top-ten singles: "Problem", "Break Free", "Bang Bang", and "Love Me Harder" featuring The Weeknd, the most of any artist that year. Grande's pop-R&B styles extended on her third studio album, Dangerous Woman (2016), which was her first of three consecutive number-one albums in the UK, and spawned top ten hits such as the Grammy nominated title track and "Side to Side".
On her next two albums, Sweetener (2018) and Thank U, Next (2019), Grande experimented with trap while maintaining her characteristic pop-R&B tones; being projects with her most creative control yet and showing a more personal and vulnerable side, both debuted at number one in several countries and were acclaimed by music critics. The former won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album and spawned the international top three hit "No Tears Left to Cry", while the latter broke several streaming records. Grande became the first solo artist to hold the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously when "7 Rings", "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" and "Thank U, Next" did so in 2019. She is also the first artist to have the lead singles from each of their first six studio albums debut within the top ten in the US.
Grande released her sixth studio album, Positions (2020) with its lead single, "Positions" debuting at number one in the US and the UK simultaneously. The song became her third number one hit in the US following "Stuck With U" in collaboration with Justin Bieber and "Rain On Me", also in collaboration with Lady Gaga. A deluxe version of Positions was released in February 2021, with four new songs and a remix of "34+35" featuring Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion. The remix helped the song peak at number two, the highest-charting song credited to three or more female soloist since 2001 when "Lady Marmalade" performed by Christina Aguilera, Mýa, P!nk, and Lil Kim peaked at number one. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming her fifth album to do so. In April 2021, a remix of The Weeknd's "Save Your Tears" was released featuring Grande. The song reached number one in both the US Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100. It spent a total of 69 weeks in the US charts, becoming one of the ten longest-running songs in that chart since its publication.
In November 2021, it was announced that Grande would star in the two-part film adaptation of the musical Wicked. The first movie is set to release on November 22nd, 2024.
Ariana Grande’s highly anticipated seventh studio album “eternal sunshine" was released on March 8th, 2024. The title is a reference to one of her favourite films, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” which stars Jim Carrey. The album is a concept album inspired by the events of the film. The lead single “yes, and?" was released on January 12, 2024 and debuted at #1 on the Hot 100. eternal sunshine had a debut at #1 on the Global Spotify charts and on the Billboard 200. The album's 2nd single “we can't be friends (wait for your love)" also debuted at #1 on the Hot 100. During this album cycle, she collaborated with Mariah Carey, Brandy, Monica, Charli XCX, and Troye Sivan on various remixes.
Grande has received various accolades, including two Grammy Awards, ten VMAs, one Brit Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and three American Music Awards. All seven of Grande's full-length albums have been certified platinum by the RIAA. Grande has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Having amassed 98 billion streams globally as of 2021, Grande is one of the most-streamed artists of all time and became the first female artist to surpass 90 billion streams. She was the most-streamed female artist of the 2010s decade on Spotify and Apple Music, and was the only female artist to reach 3 billion total streams on the latter as of 2019. In 2024, Grande became the first artist to have five albums with multiple songs over a billion streams on Spotify. She is the only artist to debut the lead single from all their studio albums in the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Her signature ponytail hairstyle has become an iconic piece of pop culture iconography. In February 2019, she became the most followed woman on Instagram. Forbes ranked her amongst the highest-paid celebrities in 2019, and Time named Grande as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016 and 2019. Billboard recognized her as the "Woman of the Year" in 2018. Her song "Thank U, Next" was in Rolling Stone's 2021 revision of their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2023, the magazine included Grande among the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Recording artists who have cited Grande as an influence or inspiration include Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Lana Del Rey, Bryson Tiller, Charlie Puth, Sufjan Stevens, Troye Sivan, Zara Larsson, Tate McRae, Madison Beer, Jung Kook, Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, Giselle of aespa, and Meghan Trainor.
80. Break Free
Ariana Grande Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I should've said it before
Tried to hide it, fake it
I can't pretend anymore
I only wanna die alive
Never by the hands of a broken heart
I don't wanna hear you lie tonight
This is the part when I say I don't want ya
I'm stronger than I've been before
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more
This is the part when I say I don't want ya
I'm stronger than I've been before
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more
You were better, deeper
I was under your spell, yeah
Like a deadly fever, yeah, babe
On the highway to hell, yeah
I only wanna die alive
Never by the hands of a broken heart
I don't wanna hear you lie tonight
Now that I've become who I really am
This is the part when I say I don't want ya
I'm stronger than I've been before
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more
This is the part when I say I don't want ya
I'm stronger than I've been before
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more
No more, baby, ooh
Thought of your body, I came alive
It was lethal, it was fatal
In my dreams, it felt so right
But I woke up every time
Oh, baby
This is the part when I say I don't want ya
I'm stronger than I've been before
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more
This is (this is) the part when I say I don't want ya
I'm stronger than I've been before
This is the part when I break free
'Cause I can't resist it no more
In "Break Free," Ariana Grande addresses the end of a relationship and the empowerment that comes with it. She admits to having feelings for her partner, but keeping them hidden, pretending and denying the truth. Ultimately, she decides to break free from her partner and the toxic relationship, which has been making her feel like she was on a highway to hell. Ariana asserts herself as an independent and empowered woman who doesn't need anyone to hold her back. She celebrates the newfound strength she has gained from recognizing her own worth and asserts her right to live her life on her own terms. The repetition of the chorus emphasizes the point of her breaking free from the painful relationship.
The song's lyrics are recognizable in its message of empowerment, despite being a common theme in many songs. It is rumored that "Break Free" is about Ariana's break-up with Nathan Sykes, a fellow musician with whom she collaborated on "Almost is Never Enough”. However, Ariana has not confirmed or denied this assertion. It is not uncommon to hear "Break Free" as a pump-up song for women building their careers, as well as on playlists for workouts and even in a few action movie trailers.
Line by Line Meaning
If you want it, take it
I used to pretend that I didn’t want you, but the truth is, if you want me, you can have me.
I should have said it before
I wish I was honest with you from the beginning.
Tried to hide it, fake it
I tried to hide my feelings for you and pretend like they didn’t exist.
I can't pretend anymore
I can’t keep pretending that I don’t have feelings for you.
I only want to die alive
I don’t want to give into a broken heart and let it kill me. I want to live my life to the fullest.
Never by the hands of a broken heart
I don’t want my heart to be broken because of someone else.
I don't wanna hear you lie tonight
I don’t want to hear you tell me lies anymore.
Now that I've become who I really am
I’ve finally become comfortable with who I am, and I won’t let anyone try to change me.
This is the part when I say I don't want ya
This is the moment where I admit that I don’t want you in my life.
I'm stronger than I've been before
I’ve grown stronger and more confident in myself.
This is the part when I break free
This is the moment where I break free from the spell you had on me.
'Cause I can't resist it no more
I can’t keep fighting my feelings for you anymore.
You were better, deeper
You had qualities that I found attractive and enchanting.
I was under your spell
I was in love with you and couldn’t see myself with anyone else.
Like a deadly fever, yeah, babe
My feelings for you were like a deadly fever that consumed me.
On the highway to hell
My feelings for you were leading me down a dark path that I didn’t want to go down.
Thought of your body, I came alive
Thinking about your body made me feel alive and passionate.
It was lethal, it was fatal
My feelings for you were so strong that they consumed me and threatened to destroy me.
In my dreams it felt so right
In my dreams, being with you felt like the perfect way to live my life.
But I woke up every time
But in reality, every time I thought about being with you, I realized it wasn’t what I truly wanted.
Oh baby
I still care for you deeply, but I know that being with you would be wrong for me.
(No more, baby, ooh)
I’m moving on from these feelings for you and I won’t let myself be consumed by them any longer.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Anton Zaslavski, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@phoebeliam2001
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