Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993), is an American singer and actress. She began her career in the Broadway musical 13, before landing the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television seriesVictorious in 2009. After four seasons, the show ended, and Grande starred on the spinoff, Sam & Cat, which ended in 2014. She has also appeared in other theatre, television and film roles and lent her voice to animated television and films. Grande has been featured on the cover of numerous teen and music magazines.
Grande's music career began with the soundtrack Music from Victorious (2011). She signed a recording contract with Republic Records and released her debut studio album, Yours Truly in 2013, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. The album's lead single, "The Way", became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, with critics comparing her wide vocal range to Mariah Carey. Her second studio album, My Everything (2014), also reached number one in the United States. It contained the hit singles "Problem" and "Break Free". With songs "Break Free", "Problem", "Bang Bang" and "Love Me Harder", she spent 34 continuous weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and had the most top 10 singles of any artist in 2014. In 2015, she is promoting My Everything in North America and Europe with a tour titled The Honeymoon Tour and is scheduled to appear on the upcoming Foxnew comedy-horror TV series Scream Queens.
Some of Grande's honors include New Artist of the Year at the 2013 American Music Awards, Music Business Association's Breakthrough Artist of the Year, "Best Pop Video" at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, "Best Song" and "Best Female" at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, and two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Grande was raised a Roman Catholic but abandoned Catholicism after becoming disillusioned with the church during the reign of Pope Benedict, including the church's opposition to gay marriage.Grande stated, "I lost faith when the Pope decided to tell me that everything I loved and believed in was wrong. I needed something else to believe in." She has followed Kabbalah teachings since at least the age of twelve, believing "the basis lies in the idea that if you're kind to others, good things will happen to you.
