The Arianators have been good to Ariana Grande this year!
The “Thank U, Next” singer has surpassed Selena Gomez as the most-followed woman on Instagram. Grande has racked up 146.5 million followers, beating out Gomez, 26, who currently has 146.3 million followers.
Gomez, who was once the most followed person on the social media platform, dropped to second place last October when soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo stole the throne with 155 million followers. He is still the most followed user on Instagram with 156.1 followers.
The news comes just days after Grande, 25, hit a milestone that hasn’t been achieved since The Beatles: powered by her latest album, Grande swept the No. 1, 2, and 3 spots of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “7 Rings,” “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” and “Thank U, Next,” respectively.
“i laughed when i saw this bc i thought y’all edited it. thank u from the bottom of my heart. for so many reasons. first time since the beatles huh (and first time for a solo artist?). that’s wild,” Grande wrote on Instagram.
“i thought this was a joke when i saw it i’m not kidding. i love u. so much. always have n will. thank u for everything. i cant believe this is real fr. thanks for making history w ya girl today. and for making me feel loved. bye crying.”
The signs of a monster debut for thank u, next, though, were there. You just had to look.
Grande’s music video for the title track — filled to the brim with rom-com references and her own Mean Girls Burn Book — brightened the spotlight on her musical ode to ex-boyfriends. Then the tattoo fiasco drew attention to “7 Rings,” which is in its fourth week on the airwaves, and the drama with the Grammys (she won a statuette but didn’t attend the ceremony over a conflict with the show’s producer) kept Grande in the headlines.
