Grande’s ‘thank u, next’ bests Adele to fastest 100 million views
LOS ANGELES — Ariana Grande’s breakup anthem “thank u, next” has become the fastest music video to reach 100 million views, video hosting service Vevo said on Tuesday.
The single, released after the 25-year-old singer’s much publicized breakup with fiance Pete Davidson, has also topped the Billboard charts for three weeks, giving Ms. Grande the biggest hit of her seven-year career.
Vevo said the “thank u, next” video, in which Ms. Grande recreates scenes from popular women’s empowerment movies Legally Blonde and Mean Girls, reached 100 million views in under four days following its Nov. 30 release.
The previous record was held by British singer Adele’s “Hello” comeback music video in 2015, which took five days to reach 100 million views, Vevo said.
“100 mil already. sheesh ... thank u, everybody. we love u n are so excited,” Ms. Grande tweeted on Tuesday.
The video also features cameo appearances from Legally Blonde actress Jennifer Coolidge, singer Troye Sivan, and Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian reality TV show family.
“thank you, next” was released just three weeks after Ms. Grande and Mr. Davidson, whose engagement in June after dating for less than two months became a celebrity media sensation, split up in October.
Ms. Grande, who has 137 million Instagram followers, sings with affection of Mr. Davidson and another ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller who died in Los Angeles in September after a drug overdose, but she also sings that she has found a new love — herself. —