Best Ariana Grande songs, ranked: Her top 26 hits, but do you agree with our choice for number-one?

Kevin Jacobsen and Daniel Montgomery
·8 min read
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What are the greatest songs by Ariana Grande? The singer with her signature powerhouse voice has made a name for herself on the charts and on the awards scene, so we’ve ranked our favorite songs she has recorded … so far. Did your favorite make the cut? And what do you think of our choice for her best song ever?

Grande started out on Broadway when she was just 15 in the musical “13,” which featured an entirely teenage cast. Then she broke out even bigger a couple of years later when she played Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon comedy “Victorious” in the early 2010s and then its spinoff “Sam and Cat.”

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Like other artists who came before her — including Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato — she turned her notoriety on kids’ TV into a bestselling music career. Her debut studio album “Yours Truly” was released in 2013. It debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and featured the song “The Way” featuring Mac Miller, which became her first top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Her second album, “My Everything,” resulted in her first Grammy nominations: Best Pop Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Bang Bang” with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj). But she didn’t take home a trophy from the recording academy until 2019, when her fourth album, “Sweetener,” was awarded Best Pop Album.

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“Sweetener” was only a few months old when she outdid herself again with her fifth album, “Thank U, Next,” which included her very first number-one singles: the title track and “7 Rings,” which topped the Billboard chart back to back. “Thank U, Next” also earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, her first bid in that category.

She was already a music veteran by the time she was 26, so she has plenty of songs to choose from, surely with more to come as her career progresses. See how we rank her best songs below.

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26. ‘Focus’ (2015)

Album: “Dangerous Woman” (bonus track on Japanese version)
Songwriters: Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ariana Grande
Accolades: It peaked at number-seven on the Billboard Hot 100, which made it her sixth top-10 hit, and it was ultimately certified platinum.

25. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with John Legend (2017)

Album: “Beauty and the Beast” soundtrack
Songwriters: Howard Ashman, Alan Menken
Accolades: The song won the Oscar for Best Original Song for the original animated version of the film in 1991 — before Grande was even born.

24. ‘Boyfriend’ with Social House (2019)

Album: “Everything Changed…” by Social House
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Charles Anderson, Michael Foster, Edgar Barrera, Steven Franks, Tommy Brown
Accolades: It won Song of Summer at the MTV Video Music Awards and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

23. ‘Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored’ (2019)

Album: “Thank U, Next”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Savan Kotecha, Kandi Burruss, Kevin Briggs
Accolades: It peaked at number-two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and the album earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

22. ‘Save Your Tears (Remix)’ with The Weeknd (2021)

Songwriters: Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Quenneville, Max Martin, Oscar Holter, Ariana Grande
Accolades: It became Grande’s sixth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

21. ‘Love Me Harder’ featuring The Weeknd (2014)

Album: “My Everything”
Songwriters: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ali Payami, Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe
Accolades: Nominated for Best Collaboration at the MTV Video Music Awards.

20. ‘POV’ (2021)

Album: “Positions”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Oliver “Junior” Frid, Steven Franks, Tayla Parx, Tommy Brown
Accolades: It reached number-three on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 24 Airplay chart.

19. ‘Stuck with U’ with Justin Bieber (2020)

Album: N/A
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Whitney Phillips, Nick Kobe, Skyler Stonestreet, Gian Stone, Freddy Wexler, Scooter Braun
Accolades: This quarantine ballad became Grande’s third song to debut at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, tying her with Mariah Carey, Drake and collaborator Justin Bieber for the most chart-topping debuts, while the music video won a VMA.

18. ‘Yes, And?’ (2024)

Album: “Eternal Sunshine”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh
Accolades: The song debuted at number-one, becoming Grande’s eighth chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100.

17. ’34+35′ (2020)

Album: “Positions”
Songwriters: Albert Stanaj, Ariana Grande, Courageous Xavier Herrera, Peter Lee Johnson, Scott Nicholson, Steven Franks, Tayla Parx, Tommy Brown, Victoria Monét
Accolades: It was a top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

16. ‘Side to Side’ featuring Nicki Minaj (2016)

Album: “Dangerous Woman”
Songwriters: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Onika Maraj, Ariana Grande
Accolades: The music video was nominated at the iHeartRadio Awards and also received a bid for its choreography from the MTV Video Music Awards.

15. ‘One Last Time’ (2015)

Album: “My Everything”
Songwriters: David Guetta, Savan Kotecha, Giorgio Tuinfort, Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk
Accolades: The single reached number-13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and was certified platinum.

14. ‘Into You’ (2016)

Album: “Dangerous Woman”
Songwriters: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ariana Grande
Accolades: It was nominated four times at the MTV Video Music Awards including Best Female Video and Best Pop Video.

13. ‘Breathin’ (2018)

Album: “Sweetener”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Peter Svensson
Accolades: It peaked at number-12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album won Best Pop Album at the Grammys.

12. ‘Dangerous Woman’ (2016)

Album: “Dangerous Woman”
Songwriters: Johan Carlsson, Max Martin, Ross Golan
Accolades: This song earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.

11. ‘Problem’ featuring Iggy Azalea (2014)

Album: “My Everything”
Songwriters: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Amethyst Kelly, Ariana Grande
Accolades: They won Best Pop Video at the MTV Video Music Awards and were also nominated for Best Female Video and Best Collaboration. They also claimed Choice Single by a Female Artist at the Teen Choice Awards.

10. ‘Positions’ (2020)

Album: “Positions”
Songwriters: Angelina Barrett, Tommy Brown, Nija Charles, Steven Franks, Ariana Grande, London Holmes, James Jarvis
Accolades: It was Grande’s fourth song to debut at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. It earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance.

9. ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)’ (2024)

Album: “Eternal Sunshine”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh
Accolades: It debuted at number-one and became Grande’s ninth number-one hit.

8. ‘Rain on Me’ with Lady Gaga (2020)

Album: “Chromatica”
Songwriters: Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Nija Charles, Rami Yacoub, Michael Tucker, Martin Bresso, Alexander Ridha, Matthew Burns
Accolades: Debuted at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, won MTV Video Music Awards for Song of the Year, Best Collaboration and Best Cinematography. It also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

7. ‘Bang Bang’ with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj (2014)

Album: “My Everything”
Songwriters: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Rickard Göransson, Onika Maraj
Accolades: The trio earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. They were also nominated for Best Collaboration at the MTV Video Music Awards and won Best Collaboration at the iHeartRadio Awards.

6. ‘God is a Woman’ (2018)

Album: “Sweetener”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Rickard Göransson
Accolades: Grande earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance, and the video earned a nomination for its visual effects at the MTV Video Music Awards.

5. ‘The Way’ featuring Mac Miller (2013)

Album: “Yours Truly”
Songwriters: Harmony Samuels, Amber Streeter, Al Sherrod Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Malcolm McCormick, Brenda Russell
Accolades: It earned Grande a Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice Love Song.

4. ‘7 Rings’ (2019)

Album: “Thank U, Next”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Njomza Vitia, Kimberly Krysiuk, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster, Charles Anderson, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II
Accolades: Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance and MTV Video Music Award winner for Best Art Direction.

3. ‘Break Free’ featuring Zedd (2014)

Album: “My Everything”
Songwriters: Anton Zaslavski, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha
Accolades: It received a Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Dance/Electronic Song and a Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice Break-Up Song.

2. ‘No Tears Left to Cry’ (2018)

Album: “Sweetener”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh
Accolades: MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video, plus a nomination for Video of the Year. People’s Choice Award nomination for Song of the Year.

1. ‘Thank U, Next’ (2018)

Album: “Thank U, Next”
Songwriters: Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Njomza Vitia, Kimberly Krysiuk, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster, Charles Anderson
Accolades: It earned 5 nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year and Song of the Year.

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