This weekend, Ariana Grande dropped off her latest cameo-filled music video for her “thank u, next” track and quickly set new records for views across various platforms.
Taking inspiration from popular coming-of-age films of the early aughts such as Mean Girls, Bring It On, 13 Going On 30, and Legally Blonde, the new video broke the YouTube record for most simultaneous viewers with 829,000 people upon its premiere.
Now, the video has also officially broken the record for the most views within a 24-hour window on YouTube with 47 million, eclipsing the record previously held by BTS’s “Idol” video in August. Before them, Taylor Swift held the crown. The video broke the same record on the Vevo platform as well.
“thank u, next” was a highly-anticipated drop, Ariana’s first since the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and her subsequent break up with fiancé Pete Davidson. In the lyrics, Grande name drops several of her exes including Big Sean and issues a PSA of self-love in the process.
This month, Ariana will be honored as Billboard’s Woman Of The Year for her work as an entertainer and activist at the 2018 Women in Music dinner and awards gala. “She consistently stands up for herself and her decisions in a world that often isn’t hospitable to that sort of strength in young women,” said Billboard’s VP of content, Ross Scarano. “She’s got guts, she’s making some of the best music of her career, and she’s absolutely deserving of Woman of the Year.”