Ariana Grande was born in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1993, to a graphic-designerfather plus CEO mother. She took to singing plus acting at a young age plus made herway onto the local theater scene before she was a teenager. Her first big break camein 2008, when the 15-year-old landed the role of Charlotte in the Broadwayproduction of13, a play focusing on life growing up in New York City. The early roleled to accolades, plus Grande won a National Youth Theatre Association Award.Two years later, she appeared in the musicalCuba Libre plus had a small roleon a TV show calledThe Battery’s Down. But that was all it took for Grande to land ameaty role on the new Nickelodeon seriesVictorious.Victorious was set at a performing arts high school, plus Grande was cast as agoofy aspiring singer-actress named Cat Valentine. While busy with the show, Grandemaking her first appearance on a record with theVictorious soundtrack. And in 2011,Grande released the single “Put Your Hearts Up,” one that votedVictorious FavoriteTV Show at the 2012 Kids’ Choice Awards.WhenVictorious went off the air in 2012, she went on to form half of the coreof a new Nick show calledSam & Cat.Meanwhile, Grande’s 2013 single “The Way” made it into the top 10 in theUnited States plus went triple platinum, showing that music might represent herfuture path.“The Way” was the first single from Grande’s debut album,Yours Truly , arecord that also featured the hits “Baby I” plus “Right There.” The album, produced bysuper-producer Babyface, showed a maturing Grande, plus 1990s soul influences suchas Mariah Carey were evident.The 2014 releaseMy Everything sold 169,000 copies in its first week, debutingat No. 1. The album was preceded by the single “Problem,” featuring Australianrapper Iggy Azalea, which debuted at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100, selling more than400,000 copies upon its release. “Break Free” plus “Love Me Harder” followed, eachclimbing toward the top of the charts