28 Interesting Facts about Ariana Grande

Last updated on February 18th, 2022 at 10:07 pm

Ariana Grande has emerged as the queen of pop music. Known for her soulful ballads and upbeat pop classics, Ariana has won over the hearts of many music fans. Although Ariana Grande is only 5′ 3″ tall, she has a larger-than-life stage presence. Here are 28 of the most interesting and fun facts about this pop superstar.

1. Ariana Loves “The Wizard of Oz”: Ariana said that her favorite movie growing up was “The Wizard of Oz.” Because of this, it is no surprise to learn that the first song that she remembers singing is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

2. She Relates with the Kabbalah Faith: While Ariana grew up Catholic, she later found her calling in the Kabbalah way of life. This faith is centered around how you can receive ultimate fulfillment in your life through various tools and connections.

3. Ariana is a Self-Professed Harry Potter Fan: The musical icon is also a big fan of all things Harry Potter, sharing that she is a Slytherin at heart. Ariana even has a tattoo including the word “Lumos,” inspired by the franchise. 

4. She is Not Proud of Her First Song: Ariana has expressed disappointment in her first song, “Put Your Hearts Up.” The 2011 song was an anthem of positivity, however, Ariana said after the fact that it felt inauthentic and fake to her.  

5. Ariana Loves to Impersonate Other Celebrities for Fun: Ariana has a true gift for delivering on-point impersonations of other popular celebrities. In addition to her delightful impersonation of Jennifer Lawrence on “Saturday Night Live,” Ariana also showed off her skills on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where she impersonated musical artists such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. 

6. She is a Disney Fanatic: Ariana adores the House of Mouse, choosing to spend her 21st birthday at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. To commemorate the day, she noshed on a four-tier Cinderella-themed cake and also got to hang with Mickey Mouse.  

7. Why the Iconic Ponytail? Ariana is known for her signature ponytail look; however, she does not necessarily rock this look by choice. She once revealed that she only wore her hair this way because she needs to hide how damaged her tresses are as a result of the constant coloring that she had to endure when performing as Cat Valentine in the sitcom Victorious on Nickelodeon. She also went on to perform in the spin-off of the tv show, Sam & Cat, which required even more dying of her hair.

8. Ariana is Generous with Her Money: There is no doubt that Ariana is generous with her money, giving to a wide array of causes. In 2016, she launched her own line of cosmetics through MAC, with 100% of the proceeds going to the cause of AIDS research. 

9. She Boasts an Italian Heritage: Many of her fans mistakenly believe that Ariana is Latina, simply because she grew up in South Florida. However, she is actually Italian with family roots in both the Abruzzo and Sicily regions of the European nation. Take note, Ariana was almost born in New York, as her parents moved to Florida just before she was born. 

10. She Was Hit by a Hockey Puck, Not Once But Twice: Ariana grew up a fan of the NHL’s Florida Panthers hockey team, often getting lucky enough to sit in the front row at many games. This can mostly be attributed to the fact that she grew up in Boca Raton, Florida. Unfortunately, she was hit by a puck at two different games in 1998, causing minor bruising but no serious injuries.

11. “Baby, I” Was Not Written for Ariana: As one of her biggest hits, it is hard to imagine “Baby, I” being performed by anyone else except for Ariana. However, the song was originally written for Beyonce, who turned it down, paving the way for Ariana to record it. This song was one of the biggest hits in her debut album, Yours Truly. 

12. Ariana is Hypoglycemic: Ariana is candid about her health issues, including her diagnosis of being hypoglycemic. Also known as having low blood sugar, this health condition makes her prone to a variety of symptoms such as dizzy spells and shakiness. 

13. Charitable at a Young Age: While many fans are aware of Ariana’s philanthropic ways as an adult, most people do not realize that she has always had a giving heart. Ariana co-founded a singing charity group known as Kids Who Care when she was only 10 years old, showing that she has an ingrained sense of charitable giving.

14. She is a Frequent Visitor at the White House: Ariana is no stranger to the nation’s capital city and the White House. She has been a repeat performer at many official White House events, including the famous Easter Egg Roll and the Women of Soul performance.

15. She Loves Anything in the Horror Genre: Ariana has a self-described dark side, loving horror movies, dressing up in scary costumes and makeup, and scary things in general. Knowing all of this, it is not surprising to learn that her favorite holiday is Halloween.

16. Ariana’s Strong Role Model: Ariana is rightfully proud of the success of her mother. Joan Grande is a CEO of a company and has always been a strong professional role model for her daughter to follow. She also has always looked up to her father, Edward Butera, who is a very successful graphic designer.  This is why she occasionally goes by a hyphenated last name, as Ariana Grande-Butera, in order to pay homage to both the role models in her life.

17. She Believes in Demons: As further evidence of her dark side, Ariana once said that she believes in demons. She even used to keep a folder filled with pictures of demons that she later deleted after she said weird things kept happening to her. 

18. Ariana Loves Jim Carrey and His Film “Bruce Almighty”: Ariana has repeatedly said that “Bruce Almighty” is her favorite film of all time, calling it the “greatest movie ever.” She loves its star, Jim Carrey, so much that she reportedly cried after meeting him for the first time.

19. Phobia of Heights: Ariana has gone on record saying that she is terrified of heights. However, this fear does not stop her from indulging in riding roller coasters, one of her greatest passions.

20. Her First Big Break: After having success in local productions, Ariana’s first big break on the national scene came at the age of 15 when she was cast in the role of Charlotte in the Broadway show called “13.” This role won Ariana a coveted  National Youth Theatre Association Award.

21. She’s Named After a Character from Felix the Cat: Ariana’s parents decided on the name Ariana after falling in love with the character Princess Oriana in Felix the Cat, an old comedy cartoon from the early 1900s. Although she normally goes by her full first name, Ariana, she does additionally take the nickname Ari.

22. Ariana isn’t an Only Child: Ariana actually has an older half-brother who is ten years her senior. His name is Frankie Grande and he is also a quite talented songwriter with a successful music career of his own. 

23. Ariana Loves Dogs: She loves dogs so much in fact, that she doesn’t just have one, she has six. Their names are Coco, Fawkes, Ophelia, Cinnamon, Toulouse, and Sirius Black (as a homage to her Harry Potter obsession of course!)

24. She Didn’t Go to Her First Concert Until 2011: For someone who is an international pop sensation now, you may be surprised to find out that she didn’t attend a concert until 2011. And this concert was none other than fellow pop star Katy Perry who would go on to inspire Grande in her own music career. 

25. Ariana Grande had the Biggest YouTube Launch in History: When her music video “Thank u, Next” debuted on YouTube it broke multiple records and was officially the biggest music video launch in history. 

26. Ariana Grande Fans Have Their Own Name: The members of the Ariana Grande fan base are called Arianators. What might surprise you, however, is that Ariana herself doesn’t like this name. She’d rather call her fans her “loves” than call them Arianators. 

27. She Started on Social Media: Not only does Ariana Grande have an impressive social media presence now, but she also had one before she was a famous singer. While she was working with an instructor to improve her vocal range, Ariana spent her free time singing covers of songs and uploading them to YouTube. Her most famous covers were songs by Adele, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. 

28. Ariana Grande Loves to Collaborate: Besides her own albums which she has released six of, Ariana Grande is featured in numerous famous songs with other artists. She has also featured numerous other artists in her own songs. Below are some of them you may recognize:

• The Way-Feat. Rapper Mac Miller
• Right There-Feat. Rapper Big Sean
• Almost is Never Enough-in collaboration with Nathan Sykes
• Problem-Feat. Rapper Iggy Azalea
• Break Free-in collaboration with Zedd
• Bang Bang-Grande provided guest vocals for Jessie J.
• Love Me Harder-Feat. The Weekend 

She also went with Justin Bieber for his Believe tour.