On December 16, 2018, pop star Ariana Grande was honored as Billboard's Woman of the Year. In her acceptance speech, she mentions all the ups and downs she has encountered this year, saying that she "find[s] it interesting that this has been one of the best years of my career and the worst of my life."
Ariana Grande Accepts Woman of the Year Award | Women in Music www.youtube.com
Her career this year has been one for the record books, breaking several different records in music history.
Just to get a quick look at all of Ariana's accomplishments:
Her break-up anthem "Thank U, Next" is now the longest-running Hot 100 #1 by a lead female this year. Forbes Magazine wrote an article about Grande's hit, noting how "Her memeified self-love anthem became the biggest-ever Premiere on YouTube using the site's Premiere feature." Forbes also mentions how "Thank U, Next" is already certified platinum and broke Spotify's one-day streaming record; it was also the fastest song to reach one hundred million streams on the music platform.
To top it all off, Billboard also named her album "sweetner" the best album of 2018.
But with all those ups, Grande has faced an intense amount of downs
After the terrorist attack during Grande's Manchester performance that left twenty-two people dead in 2017, Ariana started off the year with a lot on her heart. This was soon followed by the sudden death of her former boyfriend, Mac Miller, which was devastating for the world--but especially for Grande. People were commenting on her latest Instagram video, blaming her for Mac Miller's death.
Finally, weeks later Grande broke off her whirlwind engagement with comedian Pete Davidson. This woman has been through a lot, to say the least.
Through all these tragedies, Ariana Grande never let those things hold her back.
Ariana has taken the negatives in her life and turned them into amazing positives, starting with the concert she hosted in Manchester to raise money for the victims of the terrorist attack. This concert was filled with star-studded performers from Justin Bieber to Coldplay. It was an emotional moment, filled with so much love from the whole audience and everyone watching at home. Ariana united people and brought out light from one of the darkest tragedies she's ever experienced. She brought so many people together and turned hatred into love.
She is also such a humble, beautiful person who everyone can relate too.
As Ariana was handed the award for "Woman of the Year," people in the crowd began to stand. Ariana nervously laughed, thanked them, and told them they didn't have to. Midway through her speech she almost starts to cry, but suddenly she stops and says, "Ew I'm not gonna cry, that's really annoying. Ew."
That sentence made me laugh and I could relate to that moment one hundred percent. She even took a moment to praise all of the other women in the room whom she admires and loves. Her whole speech from beginning to end was relatable and inspiring!
I admire Ariana Grande and I admire what she stands for.
The obstacles she has overcome and the outlook she has on life is truly inspiring. I wish I could be half as positive as she is. She has been through some of the hardest situations life could throw at a person and has come out stronger and on top! She is a big advocate for equality for all people and will stand up for what she believes in, no matter what. I admire that so much and I believe these qualities make her such a great role model for not just young women, but everyone!
One of the things she has been stressing most is the importance of is mental health and self-care. She has discussed therapy and even tweeted about how it saved her life.
Therapy is often looked at with a negative attitude followed by stereotypes. There is nothing wrong with going to therapy and working through your struggles with another person. And sometimes it just feels good to let out all the thoughts you carry around all day, whether they're big or small. She is a mental health advocate who is using her platform to promote bring awareness to important messages.
Whether you like Ariana Grande's music or not, you have to respect her determination and strength.
