It is refreshing to see a popstar who is so unafraid to be herself. I'm sure there's an element of management/PR as there is for every celebrity, but Ariana always comes across as so genuine, so intelligent and able to be funny, vulnerable, compassionate, confident and outspoken. Her social media is the perfect example of how to use a massive platform.

^ I 100% agree with you on that! She has such a massive platform (most followed female on instagram for example!) and really uses it for good causes. Registering to vote and BLM just off the top of my head as recent examples - a perfect use when she has a lot of impressionable young fans who won't necessarily be clued up on these things.

 

#12 'thank u, next' performance on Ellen

 

 

This performance has really stuck in my mind ever since that airdate in November 2018! It just highlights Ariana as a true professional. She slips off her chair at one point, laughs it off, and continues the routine totally unfazed. She just looks like she's having fun with friends the whole time which makes for an infectious few minutes of TV. What a star.

#13 She's a record breaker

 

 

Ariana has broken a lot of records in her time. She did it just the other week when she became the first person ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 4 times! She also had a pretty cool record in the U.K. as the first person to replace themselves at #1 twice. The above picture was a very proud time to be a fan! She dominated the entire top 3 of the Billboard Hot 100 with '7 rings', 'break up with your girlfriend i'm bored' and 'thank u, next'. This had not been done since The Beatles in the 60s :o therefore she is the first solo artist to do this and female too. It feels like she's been breaking records left, right and centre for the past couple of years in particular. Intrigued to see how AG6 will pan out!

SUPERSTAR *.*

#14 Ari the activist

 

 

The above photos were taken at a Los Angeles protest in aid of Black Lives Matter a few weeks ago. Ariana was very quick to attend one following the death of George Floyd. She's been extremely vocal on social media about Black Lives Matter too. Back in 2016 she recorded a song called 'Better Days' with best friend Victoria Monét in the name of Black Lives Matter, so she's been passionate about the movement for a while. Away from BLM, she has been involved with many other projects from Stand Up To Cancer to March for Our Lives. When she was only 10 she co-funded a youth singing group who performed for charitable events. So she's been a philanthropist for the longest time. Props to her for speaking up about these issues and getting involved with actions or donations.

#15 Ariana begins to rival Britney with "baby"

 

 

So, Ariana likes to say "baby" a lot in her songs and this compilation only goes up to 2017! Enjoy. "Yuh" is hot on its heels though.

 

~~~

 

I'm off to the doctor now so I'll continue this later tonight ^_^

(I’ve seen rumours of AG27 merch, the Sweetener World Tour movie and ‘Nasty’ dropping today while waiting for my appointment, let’s see if any materialise :lol:)

Fab thread, Jade!

Yeah, this was a great idea for a thread Jade.

Thanks guys :heart:

 

Going to continue up to #27 after dinner!

#16 A shady GIF is born

 

 

Ariana has been the source of many golden memes / GIFs on social media but this is the most common one I see! Flawlessly executed.

#17 Billboard's Woman of the Year

 

 

Ariana was crowned Billboard's 'Woman of the Year' in 2018! She achieved her first ever Billboard #1 that year with 'thank u, next' and also found huge success with the 'Sweetener' album. Ari accepted the award above, in a very humble fashion, feeling pleased that the award exists in such a male dominated industry. A memorable quote from the speech is that she had the best year of her career but one of the worst in terms of her personal life. She reassured everyone that she has no idea what she's doing and that she doesn't have her life together at all. It's so comforting to hear her speak. Billie Eilish was her 2019 successor and mentioned Ari in her speech!

 

#18 Headlining Manchester Pride

 

 

Last year it was HUGE news that Ariana would be headlining Manchester Pride! The decision was questioned, due to high prices thanks to her star status, but it made sense with her ties to Manchester and her openness as an ally. This was August 2019 - at this point, Ariana had taken 'One Last Time' off her Sweetener World Tour setlist. However, fans who attended Manchester Pride were treated to this exact song as a one-off. She also performed uplifting anthems like 'Be Alright' and 'Break Free', plus 'no tears left to cry'. There were 9 songs in total - a short but sweet set list!

#19 DOUGHNUT-gate

 

 

This thread has been pretty celebratory so far but there was no way I could leave out such an iconic story! Back in 2015 this was such a big deal that it even had its own Lounge thread at the time :lol: Ariana caused outrage when she was caught licking a doughnut on camera and slagging off America. She later apologised and said the whole incident was related to a frustration about America's childhood obesity problem. Well... yeah, that has probably been her biggest scandal. She would later poke fun at herself during a Saturday Night Live sketch by saying "A lot of kid stars end up doing drugs, or in jail, or pregnant, or get caught licking a doughnut they didn't pay for"

(omg the birthday merch has materialised!! I'm going to get this one, love the back of it especially :wub: blehhhhh shipping costs but it's pay day for me today so that's enough of an excuse, the same thing happened with the yellow 'Rain On Me' vinyl last month too :lol: queen of good timing for me lately)

#20 Her social media

 

 

As touched upon, Ariana has a huge social media presence! She sometimes interacts with fans on Twitter (especially on release nights) and posts a lot on her instagram story. She's also queen of deleting her tweets of course. Anyway, back before Ari was as big as she is now, she provided us with the above clapback once upon a time. Iconic.

#21 Returning with 'no tears left to cry'

 

 

The world was eagerly anticipating Ariana's next era. She had a lot of goodwill after 'One Love Manchester' and the public were connecting with 'One Last Time' more than ever. So, this next move was crucial. I honestly don't think she could've done a better job with this lead single! Not only did it acknowledge the pain she'd been through (something that I'm sure people were hoping for, as the world felt this connection with her) and drove it forward positively, but also it's just a really strong, storming pop song that felt like an organic new direction! It had smash written all over it but was unlucky to be blocked by even more of a juggernaut in 'One Kiss' when it came to the #1 spot here. Still, it did end up as one of the 10 biggest sellers of the year nevertheless. The music video was an absolute triumph as well.

#22 Ariana's first Grammy Awards performance

 

 

Ariana received her first two Grammy nominations in 2015 and performed for the first time that year too! She was introduced by Kristen Stewart as having a "powerful voice" and she certainly demonstrated that in the performance. She was also described as having "hit after hit" that year, but despite this, Ariana actually chose to perform an album track instead! So that was a bold move. The song in question was the stunning Harry Styles-penned 'Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart'! She nailed this emotional ballad live.

I seem to recall you buying some of the AG26 merch last year, is that right? The purple hoodie goes for loads now! I wonder if we'll get any AG27 stuff.

 

I did! I got a crewneck and a t-shirt!

 

AG27 stuff is up on the website now so I think I'll have to buy some more :kink:

 

@1276601639747686401

 

It doesn’t seem to be ok the U.K. store yet :(

^ Ah okay I thought so *.* I bought the black one - definitely not missing out this year :heart:

 

#23 'God is a woman' VMAs performance

 

 

Here's another excellent awards show moment! Ariana had the idea to stage 'God is a woman' around a Last Supper themed performance, so that's exactly what she did. For the VMAs 2018 she brought this plan to life with the help of 50 female dancers alongside her. As an extra surprise, Ariana's mother, grandmother and cousin all joined her on stage too - with them all bowing together at the end. It was a seriously powerful performance that really took the song up a notch. Her star power shined through.