thank u, next is Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album, which arrives just 5 months and 22 days after the release of her fourth studio album, Sweetener. Coincidentally, 5/22 was the date in which the Manchester arena bombing occurred. The album revolves around its lead single and titular track, which is based on a since-deleted tweet Ariana made in response to a joke Pete Davidson made on the two’s failed engagement in a promotional clip for Saturday Night Live.
This is Ariana’s first album in which she co-wrote every track, and that doesn’t include any features.
On October 4th, 2018, Ari tweeted a snippet, for the song “Needy,” and the following weeks, she continued to tease pieces from the album.
On November 3rd, 2018, the same day she confirmed the album’s name on Twitter, Ariana released the album’s title track, “thank u, next.” The song was released 30 minutes before the airing of Saturday Night Live—in response to where her ex-fiancé Pete Davidson works.
On November 7th, 2018, Ari released the official video for “breathin,” a song from her previous studio album, Sweetener. In the video, she teased this album’s tracklist.
On November 30th, 2018, Ariana released the official video for “thank u, next.” The video interpolated several 2000s movies including Mean Girls and Bring It On and featured cameo appearances from several celebrities like Kris Jenner and Troye Sivan. This video broke two YouTube records, becoming the biggest global-debut and becoming the fastest video to reach 100 million views.
On December 13th, 2018, Ariana annouced on Twitter that there would be thirteen tracks on the album. A day later, she released the album’s first promotional single, “imagine.”
On January 3rd, 2019, “7 rings” was announced on Twitter to be the second single from the album. A week later, she announced the track’s release date along with its cover art. “7 rings” was eventually released on January 18th.
On January 21st, 2019, Ariana held a Q&A on her Twitter. There, she confirmed that the pre-order would be available that Friday, and that she would reveal the cover art and official tracklist. Additionally, she confirmed the album would have no features. A fan then tweeted stating that he hopes the album would be released in February, to which Ari replied “hbd” meaning Happy Birthday. Finally, Ariana confirmed the final release date to be February 8th.
The track list and cover art were eventually revealed on the ‘Sweetener’ Instagram account on January 22nd, 2019.
Two days before the album’s release, on February 5th, 2019, she revealed the third single would be the newly added final track, “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored.”
The day before the album’s release, the full album leaked online.
Ariana revealed via Twitter that the album discusses a dark time in her life:
In her Billboard cover story, Ariana said:
This [album’s] not particularly uplifting. A lot of it sounds really upbeat, but it’s actually a super sad chapter.
Additionally, in an Instagram story, she said:
A lot of this album mourns failed yet important, beautiful relationships in my life (as well as celebrates growth / exploring new independence).
Based on 12 reviews from mainstream sources, the album received universal acclaim and an average Metacritic rating of 87. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood said:
Thank U, Next flaunts Grande’s emotional healing; it’s suffused with the joy of discovering that what didn’t kill her really did make her stronger
Writing for Pitchfork, Rawiya Kameir said:
In the rare spots where the production is grating and the writing limp, Grande makes up for it with skill and intuition. thank u, next may be an imperfect album but it’s a perfect next chapter.
Yes, the album reached #1 on US iTunes in just 5 minutes, becoming the fastest album to top the chart in history.
Yes, she confirmed that the tour for this album would be combined with the tour for her fourth studio album, Sweetener.
The dates for the North American leg were announced in October 2018, and will begin on March 18th, 2019.
Yes, on February 15, 2019, Grande broke the Spotify record for biggest opening week for an album by a female artist with 361 million streams. She broke her previous record that she had with Sweetener (171 million).
thank u, next became Grande’s fourth album to top the Billboard 200 after it debuted at #1 during its first week. The album set a record for most streams of a pop record with 360,000 album equivalent units (including 116,000 in pure sales). The album spent a second consecutive week at #1, marking the first time one of Grande’s albums maintained the top spot for more than one week.