Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She made her performance debut on Broadway at age 15. Recently, she has gained attention for her role as Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious.
Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida. She is of Italian descent, half Sicilian, half Abruzzese.
In 2008, Grande played the role of Charlotte in the musical 13 on Broadway, for which she won a National Youth Theatre Association Award. When she joined the musical, Grande left her high school, North Broward Preparatory School, but continued to be enrolled. The school sent materials to her for study with tutors. She played the role of Miriam in the first reading of the forthcoming musical Cuba Libre composed by Desmond Child. Grande teaches music and dance to children in South Africa each year as a member of Broadway in South Africa.
Grande plays the character Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television show Victorious, which premiered in March 2010.
Ariana, the Latinized form of (Greek: ἡ 'Αρειανή/Arianē), inhabitants: Ariani (Greek: Αρειανοί/Arianoi), was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprehending the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered entire modern-day Afghanistan, east and southeast of Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and northwestern Pakistan.
At various times, the region was governed by the Persians (Achaemenids, 550-330 BC; Sasanians, 275-650 AD; Kushano-Sasanians, 345-450 AD), Macedonians (Seleucids, 330-250 BC; Greco-Bactrians, 250-110 BC; Indo-Greeks, 155-90 BC), Indo-Iranians (Parthians, 160 BC-225 AD; Indo-Scythians, 90 BC-20 AD; Indo-Parthians, 20-225 AD; Kushans, 110 BC-225 AD), white Huns (Kidarites, 360-465 AD; Hephthalites, 450-565 AD), Indians (Mauryans, 275-185 BC; Hindu-Shahis; 870-1000 AD Pala Empire; 750–1174 AD)
The Greek term Arianē (Latin: Ariana) is based upon Old Iranian Āryana- (Avestan: Airiiana-, esp. in Airiianəm vaēǰō, the name of the Aryans’ mother country, whose localization is disputed). The modern name Iran represents the ancient name Ariana, - a word itself of Avestan origin.; a view which is borne out by the traditions of the country preserved in the Muslim writers of the ninth and tenth centuries.
Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is an R&BCanadian recording artist and record producer from Toronto. He began recording songs under The Weeknd and uploading them to YouTube in late 2010, though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown. In March 2011, The Weeknd released a nine-song free album, House of Balloons which was critically acclaimed. The title track is based on a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit single "Happy House. The first album is a part of a trilogy which includes Thursday released in August of the same year and Echoes of Silence issued in December. In June, House of Balloons was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees of 2011 Polaris Music Prize but eventually lost to Arcade Fire's The Suburbs. On December 21, 2011 at 11:07 p.m. EST Tesfaye released his highly anticipated third mixtape Echoes of Silence. The Weeknd's site crashed shortly after due to the large number of downloads. The Weeknd quickly provided a Hulkshare link to keep the album available while the official site was down.
Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born June 7, 1990), better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea is an Australian hip hop recording artist signed to Grand Hustle Records. She is perhaps better known for her promotional songs "Two Times", "Pu$$y" and "My World" whose music videos went viral on YouTube. On 27 September 2011, Azalea released her first project, a mixtape titled Ignorant Art, saying she made it "with the intent to make people question and redefine old ideals".
Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Amelia Kelly in Sydney, Australia but moved with her family to Mullumbimby when she was still a baby, into a house on 12 acres that her father built by hand from mudbricks in New South Wales. Her father was a comic artist and painter and her mother a real estate agent. Azalea says her father "made her look at [art] as a teenager" which has always influenced her life and work.
Azalea began rapping at age 14. Azalea took her stage name from her family's dog while growing up. Before embarking on a solo career, Azalea formed a group with two other girls from her neighborhood: "I was like, I could be the rapper. This could be like TLC. I’ll be Left Eye." Azalea eventually decided to leave the group because the other girls weren’t taking it seriously: "I take everything I do serious. I’m too competitive."
Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she studied at the BRIT School before signing with Gut Records and striking a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing where she wrote for artists such as Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus.
Signed with Universal, Jessie J came to prominence following the release of her debut single "Do It Like a Dude" which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Charts. After scoring her first number one in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and New Zealand with the song "Price Tag", she released her debut album Who You Are (2011) which charted at number two in the UK. Other releases from the album include "Nobody's Perfect", "Who's Laughing Now" and "Who You Are" which charted within the top 20 in the UK but the release of fifth single "Domino" spawned international chart success, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and becoming her second UK number one. Aside from her musical career, Jessie J is currently a coach and mentor on television show The Voice UK.