Ariana Grande’s 2024 album Eternal Sunshine was her best in nearly a decade, producing two #1 hits and finding her in a delicious smooth pop groove.
Then came her celebrated appearances in two Wicked movies (one of which earned an Oscar nomination) and much concern about her emaciated physical appearance (warranted, in my opinion).
Now she’s back with new music, and first single ‘Hate That I Made You Love Me’ seems to tackle her relationship with fans and the media over the last two years.
Almost all of the Christmas songs that return to the Billboard Top Ten are at least a few decades old. Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ was first released in 1994, Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ came out a decade earlier, and perennials like ‘Jingle Bell Rock,’ ‘The Christmas Song,’ and ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ are 60-70 years old.
One notable exception is Ariana Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me,’ released in 2014 as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of her EP Christmas Kisses. This is the only Christmas song released in the 21st century to reach Billboard’s Top Five.
Continuing my personal 2024 Oscar nominations, today I will be writing about the race for Best Supporting Actress.
I had fewer candidates for this category than for Supporting Actor, and my list ended up having significant overlap with the Academy’s — three out of five. Nice to see them get it mostly right for a change.
Continuing my countdown of 2024 notable album releases by women…
The Ladies of 2024
#3 – Ariana Grande – Eternal Sunshine
This was the first album to drop of all the ones I’m featuring, and though it has faded from the conversation, it remains one of the year’s best new releases.
Ariana Grande’s seventh album is 35 minutes of pop heaven, and maybe the breeziest album ever inspired by a divorce.
At #3 this week is the second single from Ariana Grande’s album Eternal Sunshine. I wrote briefly about the album a couple of weeks ago after listening to it once. Since then I’ve played it multiple times and liked it more each time through. This may well be her finest work yet.
‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)’ is a splendid song, and already her second #1 hit from this album. The song debuted in the top spot, giving her the most number one debuts by any woman in history (with seven). Only Drake (nine) has more.
Meet Me In Montauk 