What did Ariana Grande do before she was famous? Singer's career through the years tracked

Ariana Grande has always been a child prodigy. The actress and singer-songwriter developed an interest in plays early on, joining the Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre before she even turned eight.

Ariana Grande's first role in a play at Fort Lauderdale was as the title character of the musical, Annie. Grande also performed in the theatre's productions of Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz. She was still a student at Pine Crest School at this time.

As a 15-year-old, Grande was cast in the Broadway musical 13 in 2008 - where she played a cheerleader's character. After a year and 105 official performances, the musical concluded, making way for Grande's next acting gig on Nickelodeon, as Cat Valentine in the sitcom Victorious.

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Ariana Grande was 20 when she released her debut studio album

Ariana Grande played the red-haired Cat Valentine for four seasons of Victorious between 2010 and 2013, when the show wrapped up. It was the same year that the singer-songwriter dropped her debut studio album - Yours Truly at the age of 20. The album dropped in August 2013 and peaked on the US Billboard 200 album charts soon after.

Grande had been working on the album alongside her acting gig for Victorious for three whole years. Once her debut album was out, the Love Me Harder singer didn't wait long to get together the second one.

My Everything - Ariana Grande's sophomore album - was dropped roughly a year later in 2014, and topped the Billboard 200 album charts just like her debut album. Its lead single - Problem - which was a collaborative work of Grande and rapper Iggy Azalea - was the album's biggest hit, debuting on number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100. By the time 2014 ended, the Bang Bang singer achieved the highest number of top tens on Billboard.

Soon after My Everything's success, Ariana Grande was ready to set off on her first-ever world tour titled The Honeymoon Tour. The tour kicked off in February 2015 and concluded in October, taking her across North America, Europe and Asia. The last leg of the tour took place in South America, with three of Grande's last performances held in Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Grande's third album - Dangerous Woman - was released the following year, and became the only one so far not to peak at Billboard 200 album charts; it was still on the chart's number two. In 2017, she embarked on another world tour supporting her third album, when one of her shows in the Manchester Arena became the target of a suicide bombing.

The incident led Grande to suspend her show and work on organizing a TV benefit concert - One Love Manchester - to raise funds for the victims of the bombing. Together with other celebrities like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Robbie Williams, Ariana Grande raised $23 million for the victims.

Grande's next album - Sweetener - dropped in August 2018 - winning her her first Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in February 2019. It also became her third album to top the Billboard 200 album charts.

Before 2018 ended, Ariana Grande released her sensational single - Thank U, Next - which became an immediate commercial success, and was included in Rolling Stones' 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Grande announced her fifth album - with the same title - to be released in February 2019.

In October 2020, Grande released her sixth studio album - Positions - which became another Billboard chart-topping success for the Best Mistake singer.

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Grande's long-time acting project, Wicked, will release on Thanksgiving this year

Soon after the release of Ariana Grande's sixth studio album, it was announced in 2021 that the singer-songwriter was cast in the musical movie adaptation of Wicked. Grande was to play the role of Glinda the Good Witch alongside Cynthia Erivo - who would play Elphaba.

The project was a dream come true for Grande, who had confessed to wanting to play that role in a 2013 KiddNation interview.

Since the movie's production started, Grande was completely devoted to it, taking a break from making music. Fast forward to 2024, and the movie's complete and ready to hit the theatres this Thanksgiving.