Thank U, Next (2018)

"thank u, next" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande. It was surprise-released on November 3, 2018, by Republic Records as the lead single from her fifth studio album of the same name (2019). Written by Grande, Tayla Parx and Victoria Monét, and produced by Tommy Brown, Charles Anderson, and Michael Foster, "Thank U, Next" is a celebratory ode to Grande's failed relationships, following the highly publicized breakup with her then-fiancé Pete Davidson. Considered a modern cultural phenomenon, the song's title and its lyrics spawned several catch phrases and online memes.

Grande originally wrote the song while engaged to Davidson, during a tumultuous point in their relationship. Several versions of the song were recorded due to the uncertainty of her relationship with Davidson at the time, as well as hesitation from Parx regarding whether Grande should list the names of her exes in the song's lyrics. Upon release, "Thank U, Next" was met with critical acclaim; critics praised its catchiness, lyricism and positive message. It has been listed as one of the 100 songs that defined the 2010s decade by Billboard, and was featured in several year-end and decade-end rankings. The song was also included in Rolling Stone's 2021 revision of their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at number 137.

"thank u, next" was an immediate commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in 23 countries. With only five days of tracking, it debuted at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's first number one single in the United States. It spent seven weeks at number one in the country, and has been certified as eight-times platinum by the RIAA. The song also broke numerous streaming records upon release, 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 for a female artist ever recorded in the US.

Its music video, directed by Hannah Lux Davis, was released on November 30, 2018. The music video referenced the early 2000s' cult classic films Bring It On, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls and 13 Going on 30, and featured several celebrity cameos. It broke many viewership records, including the record for the most-watched music video on YouTube within 24 hours, with over 55.4 million views, and the largest YouTube Premiere ever at the time. The video was met with widespread critical acclaim, was highlighted as one of the pioneering moments in pop culture for 2018 and received a nomination for Video of the Year at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.

Background and release

On November 2, 2018, Grande tweeted lyrics of a mysterious track, after her ex-fiancé, Pete Davidson, joked about their broken engagement on Saturday Night Live. The following day, she tweeted more lyrics, revealing that they indeed belong to a track named "Thank U, Next", which she described was lyrically and conceptually the opposite of her Dangerous Woman (2016) track "Knew Better". She also revealed that Thank U, Next would also be the title of her fifth album, which she had been teasing for several months on Twitter.

The song was surprise-released on November 3, 2018, without any prior official announcement or promotion. Its release late on Saturday went against the standard of Global Release Day, where most music is released midnight on Fridays.

Composition and lyrics

"thank u, next" is a self-empowerment pop and R&B song that mentions many of Grande's past relationships. It features elements of synth-pop in its production.