When she’s not tearing up the stage on tour, creating new fashion trends, or making us laugh and cry alongside her on social media, Ariana Grande is busy releasing delicious fragrances. She’s got a handful of sweet scents to her name, including Sweet Like Candy, Ari, Moonlight, and Cloud, all named after significant songs, lyrics, or, well, herself. Now a new frag named — what else — Thank U, Next is joining the family, and Ariana pulled out all the stops to promote it: She released a commercial-length sequel to her wildly popular ’00s movie throwback music video for the song of the same name, and we can’t stop LOLing.
The video, which clocks in at a little over a minute, opens with the same Mean Girls-style “I heard …” clips of “students” in a high school setting. “I heard that Ariana has a new perfume,” says her friend Colleen Ballinger, who appeared in the original music video while pregnant and now has a baby strapped to her chest. (Aww!) “I heard she sings to her rose garden every day. They get a private concert,” says another faux-student. “Well, I heard she swam with actual mermaids in the Bermuda Triangle and convinced them to give her the velvety musk of their new sea god,” says yet another. (Musk is a key ingredient in the Thank U, Next fragrance, in case you hadn’t figured that out.) “Rumor has it, she put part of her ponytail in it,” is another LOL-worthy rumor included in the video. We have a feeling she didn’t actually put strands of her hair in the mix, though you do see her snipping off a bit of her iconic style, but you never know!
Ariana doesn’t stop at Mean Girls, either. The Bring It On references are alive and well in the Thank U, Next fragrance commercial, with the Clovers and Toros cheerleaders making appearances. “I heard how she went to space to find the best pears for her little fragrance,” says the Clovers head cheerleader. “She should have just come to Compton.”
“Are you sure it was pear? I heard it was coconut,” says Ariana-as-Torrance Shipman, making her first appearance in the video. She shows up again to throw a little tongue-in-cheek shade at herself, saying, “Honestly, I’m not the biggest Ariana Grande fan, but I do hear the new fragrance is … somewhat promising.” Even her beloved dog Toulouse pops in towards the end. Everyone’s on board for Thank U, Next, and so are we!
Ariana trademarked the phrase “Thank U, Next” back in April, leading fans to believe that “Thank U, Next”-inspired body and beauty products were on the way. They were right! Thank U Next the fragrance is a creamy, juicy blend of white pear, white raspberry, creme de coconut, pink rose petals, and velvet musk, and comes in a sweet-yet-saucy broken heart-shaped bottle. The fragrance retails for $42.00 for 1oz. exclusively at Ulta, who describes it as “Optimistically outspoken. Playful yet cool.” Just like Ariana herself.
Ariana Grande dropped Thank U, Next on Friday, and the album’s already a hit. Within minutes of its drop, fans started dissecting all the lyrics—especially on the heartbreaking single “Ghostin’.” These Internet sleuths think it’s about Grande’s complex emotions about Mac Miller’s death while dating Pete Davidson. Then there’s the title track, “Thank U, Next,” which really lays it out there when it comes to her exes.
But Grande has been working so hard on her album—she reportedly turned it around in two weeks—that we haven’t gotten a whole lot of backstory on all of the songs yet. As it turns out, there’s even more to “Thank U, Next” than the lyrics imply: The singer revealed in a recent interview on The Zach Sang Show that she wrote multiple versions of the song, including one where she winds up with Davidson.
Yep, you read that right.
First, a quick refresher on the lyrics—if you don’t have them memorized yet, that is. She name checks each of her exes in the song (which they got to preview before it dropped).
Thought I’d end up with Sean
But he wasn’t a match
Wrote some songs about Ricky
Now I listen and laugh
Even almost got married
And for Pete, I’m so thankful
Wish I could say, “Thank you” to Malcolm
‘Cause he was an angel
Things were in a tricky spot with Davidson when she was writing the song—they were ending their relationship, after all—so she decided to cover her bases. (Smart!) Grande says she wrote alternate lyrics, one of which didn’t name the exes.
“I was also trying to be protective,” she said in the interview. “In my relationship [with Pete] at the time, things were like up and down and on and off, and so I didn’t know what was going to happen and then we got back together, so I had to make a different version of it, and then we broke up again, so we ended up going with that verse.”
“There’s a version where I was getting married, there’s a version where I’m not getting married, there’s a version with nothing—we’re not talking about anything,” she added. “But we all knew that the first version was gonna be the version we ultimately went with.”
Grande added that she was, understandably, nervous about putting such an intimate song out into the world. “It was a big risk and a very scary thing to do, because it is my life,” she says. “I understand that to a lot of people, I’m not a real person, or it’s easy to just kind of like see me as like, a song or a picture or like, a thing that kind of exists in their head and they know what they know and that’s it. But at the end of the day, these are people and relationships. It’s real shit to me. It is real life and I spent a lot of time with each of those people…it was like scary to put in a song.”
Arianators, you can check out the full interview, below. She goes in-depth about how she made the album—but get some popcorn ready, because it’s about an hour and a half long.
We’re not even two weeks into the new year, and Ariana Grande is already breaking the Internet. The pop star did that quite a bit last year, whether it was with her song “Thank U, Next,” her relationship with Pete Davidson, or just, ya know, breathing. And 2019 is shaping up to be just as big. Not only is she headlining Coachella in April—she’ll be the fourth female and youngest person ever to do it—but new music is on the way. First up is the new song “7 Rings,” which Grande dropped on Friday (January 18).
The backstory of the song is interesting: Grande explained on Twitter that she and her six friends Vic, Courtney, Alexa, Tayla, Njomza, and Kaydence were having a “rough day” in New York City when they decided to hit Tiffany & Co. for a pick-me-up. (You know, as all rich people do.) “We had too much champagne. I bought us all rings,” Grande tweeted. “It was very insane and funny. And on the way back to the [studio], Njomza was like, ‘Bitch, this gotta be a song.’ So we wrote it that afternoon.”
As for the actual song, it’s a riff on “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music and celebrates friendship and money. Have a listen, and watch the pink-tastic video, for yourself, below:
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Meanwhile, Grande’s Thank U, Next album is still shrouded in secrecy. Here’s everything we know so far:
1. The title. Grande confirmed it on November 3, when she revealed the phrase “Thank U, Next”—which she’d been tweeting a lot at that time—was both a song and album name.
2. The vibe.Billboarddescribed the new sound as “deep, bass-driven bangers with trap beats alternating with airy, sad ballads.”
3. The track list. Three songs have been confirmed thus far: “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings,” and “Imagine,” which was released as a promotional single.
4. It’s sad. But that doesn’t mean it’s slow. “A lot of it sounds really upbeat, but it’s actually a super-sad chapter,” she tells Billboard. “This [album’s] not particularly uplifting.”
5. Champagne helped make the record. Grande says Thank U, Next was the product of a lot of “feminine energy and champagne and music and laughter and crying,” according to Billboard.
6. There are no collaborations on the album. This will be Grande’s first album to feature just her.
7. The album is finished. Though Grande said she keeps “writing things she wants to add.” She teased the release would be at the end of 2018, so fans should definitely expect to hear it this year. Hopefully on the sooner side.
In one of her first public appearances since ending her engagement to Pete Davidson, Ariana Grande proudly shopped in New York City, wearing an oversize white puffer coat and with two larger-than-her-ponytail Chanel bags. It was, indisputably, iconic. They say a photo speaks a thousand words, but this one spoke just three: Thank U, Next.
Weeks later, Grande teased the release of her song by that name, dropping it 30 minutes before SNL premiered that Saturday in October. The timing had everyone convinced it would be a Davidson diss track, but it was the exact opposite: a self-love anthem coupled with a series of affectionate acknowledgments to her exes. It was the positive breakup bop we never knew we needed.
On Friday, November 30, Grande blessed us again with the highly anticipated “Thank U, Next” video, which was a surprise ode to the most quintessential female-driven rom-coms of the 2000s (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, 13 Going on 30, and Bring It On). A unifying thread—in addition to sweet, sweet nostalgia—is that there’s a breakup within each plot, but the stories themselves aren’t about guys or revenge: They’re about young women empowering themselves, just like Grande’s song.
And let’s not forget the the outfits. Each movie features looks that are unabashedly feminine and indicative of the era’s trends: pink feather tops, plaid mini skirts, and cherry red cheerleading outfits. The main characters may have started out dressing to impress some guy, but ultimately, their decision to look good is all about doing and wearing what’s best for them. Elle Woods can kick your ass in court while wearing a pink suit just like Grande will own the conversation on her relationship in her own terms—while wearing a hot pink feather tube top or carrying two huge Chanel shopping bags. What, like it’s hard?
See below for the best looks from the “Thank, U Next” video and how to shop each look.
Tayla Parx has come a long way since she played Little Inez in 2007’s Hairspray at 12 years old. She transitioned from acting to songwriting when she was 19—and now, at age 25, she already has credits for powerhouses like Jennifer Lopez, Fifth Harmony, Janelle Monáe, and Christina Aguilera on her well-stocked résumé.
But 2018 has been an especially busy year for the artist. Three songs she’s had a hand in—”High Hopes” by Panic! At the Disco, “Love Lies” by Khalid featuring Normani, and “Thank U, Next” by Ariana Grande—all went to the Billboard Top 10. Grande’s “Thank U, Next”—heard of it?—hit number one.
It’s an impressive accomplishment…but Parx is ready for more. That includes hopefully seeing her own name on the charts with the release of her upcoming album, We Need to Talk. It seems likely to happen, given that Parx ended this year with some high-profile gigs, including being featured in Grande’s First Wives Club–inspired Ellen performance.
So between studio sessions (with some major talent), Parx took time to chat with Glamour about her big year—and what to expect next. Read on.
Glamour: So I was shocked when I realized you played Little Inez in Hairspray. You totally stole that movie.
Tayla Parx: It’s so funny to me when people still make that connection after all these years. I like that throughout my career there are so many different plot twists for people to discover along the way. It makes the journey so much more fun.
Glamour: You’ve had a whirlwind year. Did you think 2018 would be such a defining year?
TP: To be honest, I had no idea that 2018 would be so critical in taking everything to the next level. I’ve always kept my head down, done my work, and allowed life to land where it does. But I can definitely say I’ve been writing around 200 songs a year for the last few years, getting in the rooms with people who push me creatively, and really taking the time to learn and evolve as a creative. The motivation to keep going throughout all of the ups and downs comes from this weird competition with myself. Once I accomplish one of my goals, I’m on to the next. It’s exciting to invite other people in my world and have them along for the ride.
Glamour: One of those accomplishments was “Thank U, Next.” What was your favorite part about working on it?
TP: The fact that I was able to share the entire experience with my friends makes this my favorite. Having a good time in the studio with Ariana, Victoria Monét, Social House, and Tommy Brown was everything—especially because we are all sharing our first number one on this particular Billboard chart. To win with your friends is much more rewarding.
Glamour: In the spirit of “Thank U, Next,” is there anything you’re leaving behind in 2018?
TP: All of my exes! [Laughs.] I have a bad habit of going backward. Maybe it’s an attempt to fix where I know where we went wrong. Typical Virgo. Nonetheless, sometimes it’s better to take what you’ve learned and say, “Thank you…but next!” Dating is all about finding out what you’re willing and not willing to put up with for the future love of your life. I’m enjoying learning my idea of love.
Glamour: Have you caught yourself using “Thank you, next” in your day-to-day conversations?
TP: I can’t hear the words thank you without hearing the word next right after. It’s the most hilarious thing ever. I see a new funny meme every day!
Glamour: Do you go into a songwriting session any differently when the song is for you or someone else?
TP: I like knowing who I’m writing for so that I can cater to them specifically. There’s nothing worse than a writer who forces their on emotions onto an artist. When I’m working on my own songs, I do the complete opposite. I make a conscious decision to go into the studio and have fun with no boundaries. The freedom to do whatever I want is what allows me to create something different than I do for every artist I write with.
Glamour: Do you ever write a song for another artist but then go, “Wait, I want that for me.”
TP: I haven’t had that feeling quite yet. I waited until stepping into my complete artist mode until I was undoubtedly clear on my message, my sound, and my look as an artist. It’ll continuously evolve, but it really helps to have that strong sense of self so that I never look back and regret giving big chunks of me away. There’s music that’s Taylamade, where I allow little pieces of me to live with others, and then there’s Tayla Parx’s music, where you get me with no limitations.
PHOTO: Andres Norwood
Glamour: You worked on Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer. Many of the songs comment on her reaction to the world as she sees it, in terms of LGBTQ+, racial, and women’s rights. Do you hope to make similar commentary with your album?
TP: Of course. To have the freedom to push those boundaries musically was beneficial in me having the confidence to also claim my own sexuality and project my ideas—and help others do it as well. My album doesn’t say he/she throughout the entire thing. That started because I have a song on my TaylaMade mixtape called “Mama Ain’t Raise No Bitch.” I’d have so many men coming up to me saying that was their favorite song. I initially thought it would just be a female anthem. It just confirmed the idea that lyrics and melody could reach even the people you don’t intentionally target, because emotions don’t work that way realistically. Everyone loves and hurts. Let’s keep the conversation open for listeners to interpret it for themselves.
Glamour: Is there a dream collaboration you’d love to achieve in 2019?
TP: Right now I’ve been focused on Sam Smith, Dua Lipa, Rosalia, and some really cool movie soundtracks. Every year I try to work with artists I haven’t experienced, so through the rest of the year I’ll be continuously compiling artists that I truly believe in. For me, it’s all about pushing each other creatively.
Glamour: What else do you want to see in the new year?
TP: Twenty-nineteen is all about evolving as a creative for me. I’m very excited to be releasing my following up to TaylaMade mixtape. My album We Need to Talk will be another way for listeners to continue to get to know me, and I’m looking forward to that. You’ll also see me back on the screens next year. All 2019 will be focused on being unapologetically me.
To say that Ariana Grande‘s “Thank U, Next” has become the song of 2018 would be an understatement. The single was released without a formal announcement following Grande’s sudden breakup with SNL cast member Pete Davidson—and it promptly became an overnight hit. Then, on Friday, the singer gave the world her music video for the single, which has racked up more than 75 million YouTube views in 48 hours.
But Grande’s a busy woman, and you can’t expect her to rest on these latest laurels for long. She confirmed on Saturday to a Twitter fan that she has a whole new album on the way—and that there’s a hidden reference to one of its upcoming singles tucked right in plain sight in the “Thank U, Next” video. Best of all? It honors her best friends.
It started when a fan asked, “Was the instrumental in the beginning really 7 rings? Cause it SLAPS.” “Seven Rings” is reportedly the name of her next single (or one of them), and the beginning of the “Thank U, Next” does sound a lot like what’s rumored to be a clip of “Seven Rings”. Grande confirmed in her response: “mhmm.”
And that’s when a fan asked a critical question about the origin of “Seven Rings”: “can u let us know who has the 7 rings?”
“me, vic, courtney, alexa, tayla, njomza, kaydence (and my mom and nonna so technically nine but they got theirs after song was done),” Grande responded.
So, uh, how did everyone get them? One fan decided to ask:
“well…………. twas a pretty rough day in nyc,” the singer replied. “My friends took me to tiffany’s. we had too much champagne. i bought us all rings. ? it was very insane and funny. & on the way back to the stu njomza was like ‘bitch, this gotta be a song lol’. so we wrote it that afternoon.”
It’s so great Grande’s best friends have had her back during these past few weeks—and the hidden tribute to these supportive women in a song about her exes? Brilliant.
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