Ariana Grande is certainly one of pop’s greatest trend-setters, in music and past. From her sky-high ponytail — which has been dyed a rainbow of various hues over time — to her lengthy sweatshirt sleeves and thigh-scraping boots, the singer has carved out a mode that’s simply as singular as her R&B-infused pop anthems or her physics-defying vocals.
The Boca Raton native’s distinctive skill to make a press release is clear throughout her album covers, too. From her 2013 debut with Yours Actually to her 2024 idea album Everlasting Sunshine, impressed partly by the Jim Carrey- and Kate Winslet-starring 2004 sci-fi romance of the identical identify, Grande and her group have honed the artwork of capturing the essence of a physique of music and translating it into visible art work, which stands out in any given file retailer or Goal CD part.
However like nearly every part else in life, some works are higher than others. And whereas every of Grande’s hundreds of thousands of followers absolutely has their very own favourite of the Grammy winner’s assortment of LPs, just a few of her covers rule supreme over the remaining.
Many alternative points could make or break an album cowl, be it selecting simply the suitable {photograph}, utilizing colours that visually characterize the contents of the undertaking or using props and graphic design items that add, not detract from, the general vibe. The identical goes for Grande’s, which over the course of her profession have boasted a various choice of hairstyles, palettes and poses, and (in fact) the occasional bunny masks.
Following yesterday’s rating of her six pre-Sunshine albums, beneath see Billboard’s rating of Grande’s album covers from worst to greatest. And to those that say that judging art work is subjective and subsequently pointless, our response: Sure, and?
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7. ‘Yours Actually’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph Grande’s debut album cowl is cute, with its bubble gum pink lettering, the singer’s wistful expression and the half-up, half-down coiffure she popularized within the early 2010s (earlier than graduating to her full-on ponytail). The one factor it lacks is one thing that may make it stand out extra – it’s a bit of blah in comparison with the remainder of her covers.
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6. ‘My The whole lot’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph Grande’s My The whole lot art work will get factors for a way iconic it’s amongst her followers, and it seems like a pure follow-up to the very related Yours Actually cowl. However despite the fact that she’s famously petite, there’s no approach that the singer was truly in a position to sit in that kneeling place on such a tiny stool. The angles are clearly off-kilter, making it apparent that the pose was photoshopped; plus, the textual content’s font and placement do it no favors, making the title disappear awkwardly into the fray.
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5. ‘Positions’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph The Positions portrait is straightforward however efficient, mixing ‘60s magnificence traits with a subtle-but-sultry, green-tinted shot of Grande that hints on the extra NSFW nature of her sixth album. It’s a beautiful cowl, simply not fairly her most memorable one.
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4. ‘Everlasting Sunshine’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph Technically, Everlasting Sunshine has seven completely different covers, as unveiled by Grande one-by-one main as much as the LP’s March 8, 2024, launch. The very best of them are arguably those on which the vocalist seems with shiny crimson lipstick and matching chiffon gloves — posing with out filters, results or masks overlaying her face, giving followers their clearest have a look at her on an album’s entrance but — in addition to the one the place she comforts herself, leaning poignantly on one other Ari’s shoulder.
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3. ‘Thank U, Subsequent’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph The entrance of Thank U, Subsequent is simply as easy and artistic because the songs inside, cultivating a really particular edgy-but-feminine aesthetic that may maintain robust all through the album cycle. From the darkish, graffiti lettering sprawled on Grande’s neck and chest to the ultra-thick dusty rose border, every part about it simply works.
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2. ‘Sweetener’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph The Sweetener cowl made a direct assertion in 2018 for a pair causes, defying norms just by being so strikingly upside-down (a visible impact Grande additional employed within the music video for lead single “No Tears Left to Cry”). The peach-toned headshot additionally marked the singer’s first-ever coloured album cowl, following three straight black-and-white LPs – signifying from the very starting that Grande was aiming to change issues up with this period.
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1. ‘Harmful Lady’
Picture Credit score: Courtesy Photograph Harmful Lady belongs on the prime merely due to how iconic it turned out to be – if you see bunny ears almost a decade later, you continue to assume Ariana Grande. The truth that the duvet’s glamorous black-and-white portrait resembles a mugshot makes the bundle all of the extra cohesive, giving an ideal visible to the femme fatale aesthetic of lots of the album’s tracks.
