ARIANA MANIA

THINGS YOU AND YOUR TEENS CAN TALK ABOUT

Today is Ariana Grande’s 24th birthday. So far, the pop star’s career has been remarkable. This year, she also had an unforgettable experience when her Dangerous Woman concert in Manchester was targeted by a suicide bomber last May 22. Twenty-three people died that night.

Here are 24 things one ought to know about the

Dangerous Woman singer. 1. Ariana was born on June 26, 1993 in Boca Raton, Florida. 2. She is of Italian descent. 3. She was named Ariana because of Princess Oriana from Felix the Cat. 4. Ariana is not the only celebrity in the family. Her older halfbrother, Frankie Grande, is also a Broadway actor and is a YouTube personality. He competed in Big Brother 16 in the US and Celebrity Big Brother 18 in the UK. He was a fan favorite in both shows.

5.

Ariana, who was born Catholic, left the religion because of its stance against the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community.

Frankie is gay. 6. At only eight years old, Ariana sang The Star-Spangled Banner during a hockey game in her hometown of Florida. This also marked her television debut. 7. Ariana was cast in the Nickelodeon series Victorious with Victoria Justice in the lead. 8. Following the cancellation of Victorious after three seasons, Ariana starred in Sam & Cat where she shared the lead with Jennette McCurdy.

9.

She became famous for being Cat in two Nickelodeon series and she loves to wear cat ears, but the singer and actress is actually allergic to felines.

10.

After two popular Nickelodeon shows, Ariana became a household name among tweens. But she quit acting full-time saying music is her first love.

11.

She has 110 million followers on Instagram, making her the second most-followed person in the social media platform. Selena Gomez is number one.

12.

She has 47.4 million followers on Twitter. Hers is the 17th most-followed account on Twitter. Katy Perry takes the top spot and is the only account that has reached 100 million Twitter followers—so far. 13. Ariana loves strawberries.

14.

Ariana is currently dating rapper Mac Miller. She previously dated The Wanted’s Nathan Sykes and rapper Big Sean.

15.

She has a fouroctave vocal range. Just to give people a comparison, Mariah Carey can hit five octaves while Christina Aguilera hits four.

16.

Speaking of Carey, Ariana said she is one of her idols. And music critics found some similarities between the two. But when Carey was asked about the comparison, the diva simply answered with her famous line: “I don’t know her.” 17. Ariana is a vegan. 18. Halloween is Ariana’s favorite Holiday. 19. Her fans are called Arianators.

20. Ariana’s favorite

movies are 13 Going on 30, American Beauty and Bruce Almighty. 21. She cried when she met Jim Carrey for the first time. 22. The first concert Ariana attended was Katy Perry’s. 23. Her favorite cereal is Cocoa Puffs.

24.

Ariana will be in the Philippines on Aug. 21 for her Dangerous Woman Tour at the Mall of Asia Arena.