50 Photos Showing Ariana Grande's Transformation (2024)

Ariana, 15, and her curls pose for a photo during a visit to Planet Hollywood Times Square. At the time, she was on Broadway starring in 13, which was made up of an all teenage cast (the band was also run by teens). Ari played Charlotte, one of the cheerleaders.

Ariana and her 13 co-star Elizabeth Gillies were both cast in the new Nickelodeon TV show Victorious in late-2009. For her role as Cat Valentine, Ari was required to dye her hair red every other week, which led her to use extensions years later. The show premiered in 2010 and its spinoff, Sam & Cat, debuted three years later.

Not long after the premiere of Victorious, Ari began showing up on various red carpets. Here she is at the premiere of Shrek Forever After during the Tribeca Film Festival. Note the beginnings of the now-iconic Ariana Grande ponytail.

Ari and her red ponytail strike a pose at the premiere of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in L.A. She would begin working on her debut album, Yours Truly, later that summer.

Ari brings a pop of color to the premiere of the Justin Bieber documentary, Never Say Never. She would open for him on his Believe tour in 2013 ahead of the release of Yours Truly.

Following the success of Victorious, her song “Give It Up” from the show’s soundtrack, and her highly popular YouTube covers of Bruno Mars and Rihanna songs, Ari landed her big music break in the summer of 2011, signing with Universal Republic Records.

In late-2011, Ari released her first official single, “Put Your Hearts Up,” a bubblegum flavored pop song she would later call “inauthentic and fake.” In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ari called the single “the worst moment of my life.” The video was pretty bad, too: “The whole thing was straight out of hell. I still have nightmares about it, and I made them hide it on my Vevo page.”

For the 2012 Teen Choice Awards, Ari went for a natural makeup look and let her macaron print dress by Kenley Collins (a favorite designer of hers) do all the talking. Her red-ish ponytail looked pretty cute, too.

In another design by Kenley Collins, here’s Ari looking adorable in baby blue at the Variety’s Power of Youth event. Note the slight upgrade in her ponytail.

While Ari’s music career was beginning to take shape in the summer of 2012, Nickelodeon announced the end of Victorious after three seasons. Ariana fans were not worried, however, as they had the show’s spinoff, Sam & Cat, to look forward to.

Another year, another Twilight movie premiere for Ariana, this time for the final chapter: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Gotta love the pairing of Ari’s chic strapless dress with Edward Cullen cutouts.

Ari attends the 2013 Billboard Music Awards some two months after the release of “The Way,” the lead single from Yours Truly. As you may recall, “The Way” featured rapper Mac Miller, who dated Ariana for about two years until May 2018.

In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Ariana talked about what it was like to be compared to Mariah Carey. “It’s a blessing to get the comparison. When you look at 'The Way' it’s obvious, but I’m not worried about it… It’s an incredible compliment but it doesn’t worry me, because when you listen to my album as a whole, you get to know me.”

Ariana poses with one of her first major music awards: an American Music Award for New Artist of the Year. That night, Lady Gaga was spotted giving Ari a standing ovation after her powerhouse performance of “The Way” and “Tattooed Heart,” NBD.

Ari checks off another milestone: attending her first-ever Grammys in 2014. She would not receive her first nominations until the following year (for Best Pop Vocal Album and best Pop Duo/Group Performance).

Ari lets her hair down for the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. That year, she took home the award for Favorite TV Actress for playing Cat on Sam & Cat.

By May 2014, Ari had performed at the White House twice: once for the Women of Soul concert and again for the Easter Egg Roll event. She was also riding on the massive success of “Problem,” the first single from her sophom*ore album, My Everything.

If you want to feel old, this era of Ariana, complete with her big half up ponytail and thigh high boots, happened four years ago. Here she is performing at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards.

Ariana hits the red carpet for the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards on the eve of the release of My Everything. The album spawned five singles, including “Break Free” and “Love Me Harder,” and was nominated for the Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy Award.

Ariana is cute as a button in her signature cat ears while arriving to 1 OAK in Las Vegas for an event. She would perform on Saturday Night Live for the first time five days later.