Name: Ariana Grande
Birthdate: June 26, 1993
Birthplace: Boca Raton, Florida
Claim to fame: Although now she’s known as a pop star, she first rose to stardom as an actress on the Nickelodeon TV series, Victorious, and then later appearing in the series spinoff, Sam & Cat.
Where we can see her next: Grande can next be seen at the 57th Grammy Awards on Sunday Feb. 8, where she’s performing, as well as nominated for two awards.
Interesting fact: Her iconic ponytail is to hide her hair loss. For her role in Victorious, she used to dye her hair red on an almost weekly basis, which resulted in some unexpected hair loss.
Best quote: “Nothing burns more calories than dancing in 5-inch heels…try it!” — referring to her stage performance habit of wearing extremely high heels.
Why we love her: Our WCW this week is Ariana Grande — one of the newest, youngest, and smallest, but also one of the most ferocious talents on the pop circuit. While she may only be bite size, her vocal range is huge and is often compared to the likes of Mariah Carey. Also building a reputation for wearing white knee-high boots and shaking her booty on stage, Grande has soared up the pop charts the past couple of years with hit songs ‘Break Free’, ‘Problem’, ‘Bang Bang’, and ‘Love Me Harder’.
While Ariana Grande is known to most as ‘Pop Star’, she actually got her showbiz start as an actress. She first appeared in the Broadway musical 13 back in 2008, followed by a series regular role on the Nickelodeon show Victorious, which she appeared on in 2009 and 2010. Due to her popularity and success on the show, she ended up getting her own spinoff series, Sam & Cat, with another one of her cast mates, but the show was soon cancelled due to Grande’s burgeoning music career.
Interesting enough, even with all her success on television, she didn’t get her real break in the music industry until she uploaded some videos of her singing to YouTube, which were then seen by a friend of the CEO of Republic Records, Monte Lipman. She was quickly signed to a recording deal, and, well, you’ve seen the rest. She’s now a pop phenomenon and can often be seen at the top of the music charts with some sweet and cutesy number that has an inevitable large drop beat.
Ariana Grande is that modern day diva you just want to let live in your pocket forever, but she takes our WCW this week for her apparent talent and sweet and sassy stage presence. Her success also continues to rise as you can see her at this year’s Grammy Awards Show for the first time, both performing, as well as being nominated for two wards: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Jessie J and Best Pop Vocal Album for My Everything.
Tune in on February 8th for the 57th Grammy Awards to see Ariana Grande perform and possibly win a Grammy.
