Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Florida to a family of New York-Italian origin, she began her career in 2008 in the Broadway musical 13, before playing the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon television series Victorious (2010-13) and in the spinoff Sam & Cat (2013-14). Grande made her first musical appearance on the soundtrack for Victorious and was signed to Republic Records in 2011 after music executive Monte Lipman came across one of her YouTube videos covering songs. Critics have compared Grande's wide vocal range to that of Mariah Carey. Her accolades include one Grammy Award, one BRIT Award, three American Music Awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards. She has supported a range of charities and has a large following on social media, becoming the most followed woman on Instagram in February 2019. In 2016, Time named Grande as one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list, and in 2018, Billboard named her Woman of the Year.
