00:00Ariana Grande was born to be Glinda.
00:02Oh baby, oh baby, oh
00:06Oh baby, oh
00:08The superstar may be known for her insane vocal range,
00:11but she's stepping into the iconic role of Glinda the Good Witch
00:14in John M. Chu's film adaptation of Wicked.
00:17But who is Ariana? What's her story?
00:19And how does she land a role in one of the biggest movies of the year?
00:22This is Billboard Explains Ariana Grande's Journey to Wicked.
00:27Born in Boca Raton, Florida, Ariana's passion for singing and musical theater
00:31started at a young age.
00:32Growing up, she starred in numerous theater productions,
00:35including the leading role in a children's production of Annie.
00:38At 15, she was chosen from thousands of hopefuls to play the role of Charlotte
00:43in the Broadway musical 13 and made the move from Florida to New York in 2008.
00:48Fast forward to the early 2010s when Ariana made her big TV debut
00:52on the Nickelodeon series Victorious, starring as Cat Valentine.
00:56The show ran for four seasons and turned into the popular spinoff,
01:00Salmon Cat.
01:01During this time, Ariana landed her Billboard chart debut
01:04with the Victorious song, Give It Up,
01:07which debuted at number three on Kid Digital Song Sales.
01:10Ariana also started uploading covers to YouTube
01:13and soon caught the attention of Republic Records president Monty Lipman.
01:17He signed Ari to the label in August 2011.
01:20She released her debut album, Yours Truly, in 2013,
01:23debuting at number one on the Billboard 200.
01:31The album featured her Mac Miller collab, The Way,
01:34which debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
01:37She soon followed that up with her sophomore album, My Everything, in 2014
01:42and earned four top 10 Hot 100 hits that year
01:45with Problem featuring Iggy Azalea, Break Free featuring Zedd,
01:49Bang Bang with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj,
01:52and Love Me Harder with The Weeknd.
01:54As Ariana's star continued to rise, her third album, Dangerous Woman,
01:58debuted at number two on the Billboard 200
02:00and produced hits like Into You, Side to Side,
02:03featuring Nicki Minaj and the title track.
02:13In 2018, Ariana came back stronger with yet another number one album with Sweetener,
02:19featuring tracks like No Tears Left to Cry and God is a Woman.
02:27Less than a year later, Ariana had more music up her sleeve
02:30with her fifth album, Thank U, Next,
02:32and earned her first number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100
02:35with the album's title track.
02:37The album also helped Ariana become the second artist after the Beatles
02:41to ever hold the entire top three spots of the Hot 100 at once
02:45with Seven Rings, Break Up With Your Girlfriend I'm Bored, and Thank U, Next.
02:55During the COVID-19 pandemic,
02:57Ariana gifted fans with her critically acclaimed album positions
03:00with the album's title track topping the Hot 100.
03:06Four years later, she returned with her latest album, Eternal Sunshine,
03:09in March 2024, including a pair of number one hits,
03:13Yes And, and We Can't Be Friends, Wait For Your Love,
03:16as well as The Boy Is Mine, which got a remix with Brandy and Monica.
03:27Over the past couple years, Ariana has been hard at work portraying the role of her lifetime,
03:32Glinda the Good Witch in Universal's Wicked, alongside Cynthia Erivo,
03:36and has been receiving rave reviews for her work in the film.
03:39Who knows when Ariana will return with new music,
03:41but we love to see her fulfilling her Wicked dreams,
03:44and can't wait to see what else is to come for this superstar.
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