As she prepares to release her latest album, Ariana Grande is taking a trip down memory lane. On the latest episode of Spotify's Billions Club on Tuesday (Feb. 6), the 30-year-old pop star reflected on the stories behind all 14 of her hits that have earned a billion streams on the platform — the most of any female artist in history — and touched on the years of work he did to get to where he is now.
To celebrate the singer's historic achievement, Spotify arranged for plaques representing each of Grande's billion-streamed songs to be placed at her Jungle City Studios recording space. When sorting the signs, the “Yes, And?” The singer joked about her “Bang Bang” collaboration with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj – “Bang bang into the room, deep lyricism” – and praised her previous duet partners Lady Gaga and The Weeknd for their respective their streaming roles of “Rain On Me” and “Save Your Tears”.
The Victorious The alum also shared a funny memory about the music video for her top 2014 Christmas song “Santa Tell Me.” “It was a backup video,” he revealed with a laugh. “In the original video, I was in weird Christmas underwear and hitting Santa with a cane pole. I was like, “This is the right vibe for this song, trust me.” And the label was like, “Hey, honey… I don't think we can use this.”
The 'Positions' singer will release his next music on March 8 with Eternal sunshine, her long-awaited seventh album. She's already dropped her lead single, “Yes, And?”, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but has since confirmed that she won't be sharing any more songs from the album before the LP arrives.
“I'm excited because I also feel like I haven't even really started,” Grande concluded in the Spotify clip. “I am so, so grateful and look forward to hearing from you. I have to go finish it now.”
Sharing the Billions Club video on Instagram, the Grammy winner wrote that “filming this little episode was such a sweet little memory and burst of gratitude if you will.” She continued, saying she didn't expect to get emotional during filming, “but it really, really hit me! so much of my life has been spent doing this, with and for all of you. so many little pieces of my life are packed into these little silly songs forever…”
“You're not just listeners, you're people I feel so humbled and deeply appreciate,” she added, addressing her fans. “The most special part of all is experiencing such beautiful human connection (that's a lot / too much / sorry). I am so thankful for the memories we have made over the years and the kindness and sense of home we have found in each other! I remind myself of that when I need it most.”
Watch Grande's Billions Club episode with Spotify below.
