Thank U, Next (album)

For other articles with the same name, see Thank U, Next.

“	I made it with like my best friends over the course of a really small period of time, and it kind of like, saved my life [from this] super challenging chapter that you know, sucked, and then my friends made it amazing and special and, um, forever grateful for that, and the music just feels like how it felt making it.	”
–Ariana Grande on her fifth album

Thank U, NextStudio album by Ariana Grande
Alternate covers
Physical
General information
Artist	Ariana Grande
Release Date	February 8, 2019 June 26, 2019 (Japanese deluxe)
Recorded	September 2018 - December 2018 January 2019 - April 2019 (Scrapped deluxe)
Studio	Jungle City Studios (New York) The Record Plant (Hollywood, California) MXM Studios (Los Angeles, California) Wolf Cousins Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) Conway Recording Studios (Hollywood, California) Entirety Studios (London, England) Sterling Sound Studios (Edgewater, New Jersey)
Genre	Trap-Pop, Ballad, R&B, Bubblegum Pop
Length	41:11
Label	Republic Records
Producer(s)	Ariana Grande (exec.), Scooter Braun (exec.), Charles Anderson, Brian Baptiste, Tommy Brown, Michael Foster, Ilya, Max Martin, NOVA Wav, Happy Perez, Pop Wansel
Studio albums chronology
Previous	Sweetener
Current	Thank U, Next
Next	Positions
Singles from Thank U, Next
1. "Thank U, Next" Released: November 3, 2018 2. "7 Rings" Released: January 18, 2019 3. "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" Released: February 8, 2019
Promotional singles from Thank U, Next
1. "Imagine" Released: December 14, 2018

Thank U, Next (stylized all in lowercase; commonly abbreviated as "TUN") is Ariana Grande's fifth studio album. It was released on February 8, 2019, through Republic Records. The album was recorded between October and December 2018.

Three singles were released from the album, two of which debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. With this, Thank U, Next joined Daydream by Mariah Carey as the only albums by female artists to have multiple songs debut at number one. Grande also joined Carey and Britney Spears as the only female artists with multiple number-one debuts; overall she is the fifth artist after Justin Bieber and Drake. Topping charts in many countries internationally, the song broke numerous streaming records, including the record for the most streams received by a song in a single day for a female artist on Spotify, and the largest on-demand streaming week ever recorded for a female artist in the US.

Background

During the Sweetener livestream on August 16, 2018, Grande confirmed that she would start working on her next album in September 2018. Tommy Brown shared a short snippet of a song on his Instagram story on October 4, 2018. Later that day, Grande shared a 45-second-snippet of a song on her Instagram with the caption "tell me how good it feels to be needed" which are lyrics from a song, later revealed to be titled "Needy". On November 1, 2018, Grande revealed on Twitter that she was finishing the album, but she later deleted the tweet. On November 3, 2018, Grande confirmed the title of the album, Thank U, Next.

A music video for Grande's single "Breathin", from her previous album Sweetener, was released on November 7, 2018. In the video, a short scene shows a departures board, where some possible tracks from Thank U, Next are listed, including "NASA", "Imagine" and "Needy". Also, another short scene shows the board in the background blurred. The song titles "Make Up", "7 Rings", "Ghostin" and "Remember" could be seen. Grande also teased "Imagine", "7 Rings" and "Needy" in the music video for the album's title track, "Thank U, Next", released in November 2018.

On December 4, 2018, Grande revealed on Twitter that the album was finished. In an interview with Billboard, the album was described as "deep, bass-driven bangers with trap beats alternating with airy, sad ballads". On January 3, 2019, Grande confirmed on Twitter that "7 Rings" would be the second single from the album. Its track listing was revealed on January 22, 2019 on Instagram. The album was made available for pre-order on January 25, 2019.

It was revealed on Grande's official Japanese Twitter account that a Deluxe Edition of the album would be released on June 26, Ariana's birthday, featuring the "7 Rings" remix featuring 2 Chainz, "Monopoly" with Victoria Monét, and a DVD with the music videos for "Thank U, Next", "7 Rings" and "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored". It is rumored that there was supposed to be a more fleshed-out deluxe, however it was eventually scrapped in favor of releasing K Bye For Now (SWT Live), a live album for the corresponding tour, along with featuring on the Charlie's Angels soundtrack.

Recording

On October 1, 2018, Grande uploaded a photo at studio on her Instagram story. A day later, she uploaded more photos and revealed that at least nine songs were recorded, tagging songwriters and producers such as Kaydence, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Tommy Brown, Charles Anderson (Scootie), and Mikey (from Social House).

The following is a list of known recording dates Grande was in the studio:

• September 27, 2018 ("In The Moment (Victoria's Vocal Takes)", "Ghostin", "Imagine (Muni Long Vocal Takes)")
• September 28, 2018 ("In The Moment (Victoria's Vocal Takes)")
• September 30, 2018 ("Could Be Us (Instrumental)", "Ghostin", "In The Moment (Ariana's Vocal Takes)", "Needy (Tayla's Vocal Takes)")
• October 1, 2018 ("Confused (Demo 1 & 2)", In The Moment (Demo 1)", "Indica", "Needy (Ariana's Vocal Takes)")
• October 2, 2018 ("Imagine (Ariana's Vocal Takes)", "Not Ok", "Indica", "My Hair (Demo 1)", "Confused (Ariana’s Vocal Takes)", "Needy (Ariana's Vocal Takes)")
• October 3, 2018 ("My Hair (Demo 2)", "Confused (Demo 3)")
• October 4, 2018 ("Thank U, Next (Demo 2)", "Confused (Ariana's Vocal Takes)")
• October 5, 2018 ("Thank U, Next")
• October 6, 2018 ("Thank U, Next (Demo 3)", "My Hair (Demo 3)")^[1]
• October 7, 2018 ("Remember (Victoria Vocal Takes)")^[2]
• October 8, 2018 ("Thank U, Next (Demo 4)")
• October 9, 2018 ("Remember (Demo 1)", "My Hair (Demo 4)", "Confused (Demo 4)", "Needy (Ariana's Vocal Takes)", "Thank U, Next (Demo 5)")
• October 10, 2018 ("Remember (Demo 2)", "My Hair (Demo 5)")^[3][4]
• October 11, 2018 ("My Hair (Demo 6)", "Thank U, Next (Demo 6)")
• October 12, 2018 ("Thank U, Next (Demo 7)", "Could Be Us (Demo)")
• October 17, 2018 ("Thank U, Next (Demo 8)")
• October 19, 2018 ("In The Moment (Demo 2)", "Remember (Demo 3)", "Remember (Demo 4)", "My Hair (Demo 7)", "La La Lie (Concept Demo)")
• October 20, 2018 ("In The Moment (Demo 3)", "My Hair (Demo 8)", "Confused (Ariana's Vocal Takes)")
• October 22, 2018 ("My Hair (Demo 9)", "Thank U, Next (Demo 9)")
• October 23, 2018 ("In The Moment (Demo 4)", "Remember (Demo 5)", "Confused (Demo 5)", "Thank U, Next (Demo 10)")
• October 24, 2018 ("In The Moment (Demo 5)", "In My Head (Ariana and Tayla's Vocal Takes)", "Remember (Demo 6)")
• October 25, 2018 ("Could Be Us (Final)", "My Hair (Demo 10)", "Thank U, Next (Demo 11)")
• October 26, 2018 ("Fake Smile (Ariana’s and Muni Long's Vocal Takes)", "My Hair (Demo 11)")
• October 28, 2018 ("Fake Smile (Muni Long Vocal Take)")
• October 29, 2018 ("In The Moment (Demo 6)", "Imagine (Reference Mix)")
• October 30, 2018 ("Confused (Demo 6 & Final)")
• November 1, 2018 ("Juice (Reference Mix)", "Thank U, Next (Demo 12)”, "Fake Smile (Reference Mix)", "In My Head (Reference Mix)")
• November 8, 2018 ("In The Moment (Final)")
• November 9, 2018 ("Remember (Demo 7)")
• November 11, 2018 ("Remember (Demo 8)")
• November 20, 2018 ("Needy (Reference Mix)")
• November 27, 2018 ("Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored (Ariana's Vocal Takes)
• November 29, 2018 ("Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored")
• December 4, 2018 ("Remember (Demo 9)")
• December 5, 2018 ("Remember (Demo 10)")
• December 14, 2018 ("Remember (Final)")
• January 7, 2019 ("Remember (Ariana's Vocal Take)")
• January 28, 2019 ("Made Of These")
• January 30, 2019 ("Still On Ur Mind (Demo 1)")
• January 31, 2019 ("Still On Ur Mind (Demo 2)", "Italliano (Ariana’s Vocal Takes)", "What Would You")
• February 1, 2019 ("Italliano (Ariana's Demo)", "Monopoly")
• February 12, 2019 ("Italliano (Unknown Artist Vocal Takes)", "Like That (Demo 1, 2 & 3)")
• February 20, 2019 ("Italliano (Unknown Artist Vocal Takes)")
• February 22, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 4)")
• February 23, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 5)")
• February 28, 2019 ("Italliano (Unknown Artist Vocal Takes)")
• March 1, 2019 ("Italliano (Unknown Artist Demo)")
• March 4, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 6)")
• March 8, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 7)")
• March 9, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 8)")
• March 10, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 9, 10 & 11)")
• March 15, 2019 ("Still On Ur Mind (Final)")
• March 19, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 12)")
• March 21, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 13)")
• March 23, 2018 ("Brittle (Instrumental)")
• April 9, 2019 ("Don't Waste My Time", "Brittle")
• April 13, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 14 & 15)")
• April 15, 2019 ("Like That (Demo 16)")

Cover art

Grande revealed that there would be a different version for the physical and digital album cover art. The digital version of the cover was revealed on January 23, 2019 and Grande stated that this was her favorite one yet. It features a pink background and an upside down photo of Grande in the middle, shot by Alfredo Flores, with the title of the album painted on her neck by Brian Nicholson. While the physical version, revealed two days later, features a black background. The dress worn in the album cover is also worn in the very first shot of "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored".

Singles

• The lead single and title track, "Thank U, Next", was released on November 3, 2018.
• The second single, "7 Rings", was released on January 18, 2019.
• The third and final single, "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored", was released along with the album on February 8, 2019.

Thank U, Next

7 Rings

Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored

Promotional singles

• A promotional single, "Imagine", was released on December 14, 2018.

Imagine

Tour

Main article: Sweetener World Tour

Grande confirmed that the tour for her album Sweetener would be combined with the tour for Thank U, Next. The dates for the North American leg of the Sweetener World Tour were announced on October 25, 2018. The tour began on March 18, 2019, in Albany, New York and ended on December 22, 2019, in Inglewood, California.

Critical reception

The album received universal acclaim from music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine made an early review of the album. He noted the difference between Thank U, Next with Grande's previous album Sweetener saying that "this time Grande is swaggering with the confidence that comes with unquestioned stardom." He added that "the album feels slighter than Sweetener." Erlewine gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars. Sal Cinquemani, writing on behalf of Slant Magazine, gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated that Thank U, Next is "easily Grande’s most sonically consistent effort to date, even if that means some of the album’s sleek R&B tracks tend to blur together."

Commercial performance

After the release of Thank U, Next, it reached the top on US iTunes in just 5 minutes, becoming the fastest album in history to hit #1 on US iTunes.

The album debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 360,000 album-equivalent units being Grande's fourth number-one album in the United States. It broke the record for the largest streaming week for a pop album. All twelve songs from the album appeared simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week ending February 23, 2019, and eleven of the tracks appeared in the top 40 of the chart. With this, Grande broke the record for the most simultaneous top 40 songs by a female artist.

The album also broke yet another record of occupying the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, a record that was held by The Beatles for the last 55 years.

Trivia

• This is Grande's first album in which she co-wrote every track.
• The first song written for the album was "Ghostin".
• The last song recorded for the album was "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored".
• The longest song is "Ghostin", at 4 minutes and 31 seconds, while the shortest song is "Make Up" at 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
• Grande released a fragrance with the same name as the album. It is Grande's only album to have a fragrance named after it so far.
• The original track list is shown in the "Breathin" music video.

Breathin Music Video BTS

• "Ghostin" is the only song on the album that has never been performed live.
  • "Imagine" has been performed live, though it was not part of the Sweetener World Tour setlist at any moment during the tour's duration.
• A scrapped song, "Remember," was originally intended to be the the album closer. Later, it was replaced by "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored"
• Various samples of other songs are used throughout the album, including:
  • "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" by Wendy Rene (Fake Smile)
  • "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (7 Rings)
  • "It Makes Me Ill" by *NSYNC (Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored)
• It's often speculated that there was going to be a deluxe edition / re-release of the album at some point, but that it was eventually scrapped by her team due to timing, most likely due to Sweetener World Tour and the decision to release an accompanying live album. Whether this is true or not is unknown, though some leaked songs that were recorded after the album's release through late 2019 sounds as they were made for some kind of extension of this album. Some of those songs included: "Like That", "Still On Ur Mind", and "Monopoly" with the latter seeing an official single release.
  • It was confirmed by reputable leakers that the recording of the deluxe version stopped after April 2019.
• "Thank U, Next" was a common phrase between Grande and her friends before it made it into her music, and you can hear her say it in a Vanity Fair interview from 2015.

Merchandise

Main article: Merchandise - Thank U, Next

Physical Releases

Main article: Merchandise - Physical Music § Thank U, Next

• Overview
• Details

2LP Black, Gatefold, Black Cover

2LP Pink & Clear Split, Gatefold, Black Cover

2LP Clear, Gatefold, Target Exclusive

Cassette, Black

Jewel Case

Clean, Jewel Case

CD + DVD, Deluxe, Jewel Case, Music Videos

CD artwork

CD booklet 2-3

CD booklet 4-5

CD booklet 6-7

CD booklet 8-9

CD booklet 10-11

CD booklet back

Target LP disk

Gallery

Official Tracklist

Recording

early tracklist

Photoshoot

Behind the scenes

Thank U, Next Launch Party

Teaser

Ariana Grande - thank u, next (official album teaser)

Track listing

Standard Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Imagine"	Andrew Wansel, Nathan Perez, Priscilla Renea, Jameel Roberts, Ariana Grande	Wansel, Perez	3:32
2.	"Needy"	Grande, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Tommy Brown	Brown	2:51
3.	"NASA"	Grande, Monét, Parx, Brown, Charles Anderson	Brown, Anderson	3:02
4.	"Bloodline"	Grande, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Savan Kotecha	Martin	3:36
5.	"Fake Smile"	Wansel, Perez, Renea, Kennedi Lykken, Justin Tranter, Grande, Joseph W. Frierson, Mary Lou Frierson	Pop Wansel, Happy Perez	3:28
6.	"Bad Idea"	Grande, Martin, Salmanzadeh, Kotecha	Martin, Ilya	4:27
7.	"Make Up"	Grande, Monét, Parx, Brown, Brian Baptiste	Brown, Baptiste	2:20
8.	"Ghostin"	Grande, Martin, Salmanzadeh, Kotecha, Monét, Parx	Martin, Ilya	4:31
9.	"In My Head"	Wansel, Grande, Perez, Brittany "Chi" Coney, Denisia Andrews, Lindel Deon Nelson Jr., Roberts	Pop Wansel, Happy Perez, NOVA Wav	3:42
10.	"7 Rings"	Grande, Monét, Parx, Njomza Vitia, Kimberly Krysiuk, Brown, Michael Foster, Anderson, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Christopher Wallace, Osten Harvey, Paul Winley, Ann Winley, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Andrew Noland, Bruce Napier, Clarence Satchell, Gregory Webster, James Williams, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Marvin Pierce, Ralph Middlebrooks, Walter Morrison, Fred Scruggs, Kirk Jones, Tyrone Taylor, Marlon Fletcher, Chylow Parker, Bob James, Ivan Woods, Joe Wheeler, Alan Gorrie, Weldon Irvine, Herb Rooney, Keith Elam, Christopher Martin, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Marie Perreault, Andy Badale, Greg Mays, Darryl Barnes, Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard E. Scott, George Clinton, Gary Shider, Bernie Worrell, Roy C. Hammond, Keeling Beckford, Kamaal Fareed, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Malik Taylor, Trevor Smith, Bryan Higgins, James Jackson, Sheldon Scott, Troy Hall, Brother Jack McDuff, Jimi Hendrix, Khalis Bayyan, George Brown, Robert "Kool" Bell, Ricky West, Claydes Smith, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Dennis "D.T." Thomas, Gene Redd, David Porter, Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, Michael Jackson, Bernard Belle, Teddy Riley	Brown, Anderson, Foster	2:58
11.	"Thank U, Next"	Grande, Monét, Parx, Vitia, Krysiuk, Brown, Foster, Anderson	Brown, Foster, Anderson	3:27
12.	"Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored"	Grande, Martin, Salmanzadeh, Kotecha, Kandi Burruss, Kevin Briggs	Martin, Ilya	3:10
Total length:				41:11

Japanese Deluxe Edition (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"7 Rings" (featuring 2 Chainz) (remix)	Grande, Monét, Parx, Vitia, Krysiuk, Brown, Foster, Anderson, Rodgers, Hammerstein II, Wallace, Harvey, Winley, Winley, Mayfield, Brown, Noland, Napier, Satchell, Webster, Williams, Bonner, Jones, Pierce, Middlebrooks, Morrison, Scruggs, Jones, Taylor, Fletcher, Parker, James, Woods, Wheeler, Gorrie, Irvine, Rooney, Elam, Martin, Perrey, Perreault, Badale, Mays, Barnes, Allen, Brown, Dickerson, Jordan, Miller, Oskar, Scott, Clinton, Shider, Worrell, Hammond, Beckford, Fareed, Muhammad, Taylor, Smith, Higgins, Jackson, Scott, Hall, McDuff, Hendrix, Bayyan, Brown, Bell, West, Smith, Mickens, Thomas, Redd, Porter, Gamble, Huff, Jackson, Belle, Riley, Tauheed Epps	Brown, Anderson, Foster	2:58
14.	"Monopoly" (with Victoria Monét)	Grande, Monét, Anderson, Foster, Tim Suby	Social House, Busy	2:38

Japanese Deluxe Edition (bonus DVD)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Thank U, Next" (music video)	5:31
2.	"7 Rings" (music video)	3:05
3.	"Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" (music video)	3:25

Cut tracks

• "Brittle"
• "Close Friends"
• "Confused"
• "Could Be Us"
• "Don't Waste My Time"
• "Dr Nick"
• "Hell Yea"
• "Indica"
• "Italliano"
• "In The Moment"
• "Juice"
• "La La Lie"
• "Like That"
• "Lakortle"
• "My Hair"
• "Not Ok"
• "Remember"
• "Something Different"
• "Still On Ur Mind"
• "Tommy P"
• "Unknown The Weeknd Collaboration"
• "What Would You"