Ariana Grande released Thank U, Next, her fifth studio album, on Thursday at midnight. The 12-track collection includes the title track and 7 Rings, both of which previously debuted at Number One on the Hot 100.
While working onThank U, Next,Grande returned to the studio with a number of longtime collaborators, including Tommy TB Hits Brown,Victoria Mont and Savan Kotecha. She also recruited some writers that she hasnt worked with as often in the past: Justin Tranter, who has penned single for Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, and the duo Nova Wav, who played a major role on the Carters surprise albumEverything Is Lovelast year.
Grandes latest LP comes less than six months after her last full-length,Sweetener. In between albums, the singer released an impressive string of hits thatculminated with 7 Rings, which is currently enjoying a second week at Number One. Most singers are lucky to get one single into heavy rotation on Top 40 radio, but Grande has three at once, a remarkable feat. Those tracks combined to reach more than 145 million listeners on the pop airwaves last week, according to Nielsen BDS.
Despite Grandes success, she will not be attending or performing at the Grammys on Sunday. In an interview published on Thursday, the award shows producer, Ken Ehrlich, claimed Grande would be absent because she felt it was too late for her to pull something together.
The singer took to Twitter on Thursday to correct the record. Ive kept my mouth shut but now youre lying about me, Grandewrote. I can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. It was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you that I decided not to attend. She described the Grammys as just a game before adding, Im sorry, but thats not what music is to me.