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Ariana Grande releases fourth studio album ‘Sweetener’
DEBUTS AT #1 ON iTUNES ALBUM CHART IN MORE THAN 90 COUNTRIES
TO PERFORM “GOD IS A WOMAN” ON MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS
PREPARES FOR EXCLUSIVE “THE SWEETENER SESSIONS” IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS
August 17, 2018 10:50pm
GET SWEETENER BELOW NEW YORK, NY (August 17, 2018) – Today, Grammy Award®-nominated, multiplatinum, record-breaking superstar ARIANA GRANDE releases the highly anticipated fourth studio album, Sweetener, via Republic Records. The album debuted at #1 in over 90 countries on the iTunes Album Chart. Sweetener includes three previously released tracks, “No Tears Left To Cry” now officially certified RIAA PLATINUM, “The Light Is Coming”, and current second single “God Is A Woman”. Get Sweetener HERE.
ARIANA is preparing for the television debut performance of “God Is A Woman”, on MTV’s Video Music Awards airing Monday, August 20th from Radio City Music Hall. “God Is A Woman” was released alongside the female empowered music video directed by Grammy Award®-winning director Dave Meyer. Meyers also directed the music videos for “The Light Is Coming” and “No Tears Left to Cry”, and all three videos combined have now been streamed on VEVO over 600 million times.
Also available today, fans have the chance to purchase limited edition Sweetener merchandise and music at https://
ARIANA will be performing songs from Sweetener next week in partnership with American Express, giving Card Members and fans the exclusive chance to see “The Sweetener Sessions,” a series of three intimate shows in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Those who miss the chance to grab a ticket will have the chance to see select songs from the Chicago performance on ARIANA’s Instagram IGTV later this month, stay tuned!
ABOUT ARIANA GRANDE With her powerful vocals and astonishing range, Ariana Grande has emerged as one of the most magnetic and massively successful performers in pop music today. At age 24 she’s delivered three platinum-selling albums and surpassed 18 billion streams, in addition to nabbing four Grammy Award nominations and landing eight hits in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With 2016’s critically acclaimed Dangerous Woman, Grande both boldly defies expectation and reveals the full force of her voice (recently hailed as an “extraordinary, versatile, limitless instrument” upon Grande’s appearance on Time’s “100 Most Influential People” list).
Since making her full-length debut with 2013’s Yours Truly (featuring the game-changing, triple-platinum smash “The Way”), Grande has brought her striking vocal presence to a genre-blurring breed of pop, taking on R&B, soul, and electronic music with equal nuance and assurance. Arriving in 2014, her sophomore effort, My Everything, garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album and spawned the 6x-platinum hits “Problem” and “Bang Bang” (a Grammy nominee for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance). Grande embraced a more uncompromising vision than ever before in the making of Dangerous Woman. With People noting that the album “celebrates feminine might,” Entertainment Weekly praised Grande for “having something meaningful to say with that jaw-dropping voice — one of the most exquisite in pop today.” Grande wrapped up her widely lauded Dangerous Woman Tour in support of the album last year, performing 85 arena shows worldwide.
Through the years, the longtime actress and former Broadway star has proven the scope of her talent by appearing on Scream Queens and Hairspray Live! and showcased her comedic chops by hosting Saturday Night Live. With her social media following now surging past 200 million, Grande has also earned numerous accolades from the MTV Video Music Awards, iHeartRadio Music Awards, and American Music Awards (including the highly coveted Artist of the Year prize).
Ariana’s recent single “No Tears Left To Cry” debuted at #1 on iTunes in 88 countries worldwide and began the next era for her upcoming fourth full length studio album Sweetener. With the release of “Not Tears Left To Cry” she became the first artist in music history to see the lead single from her first four albums debut on the Top 10 on Billboard Hot 100. This year she has graced the prestigious magazine covers of TIME’s Next Generation Leaders, FADER, and British Vogue. The highly anticipated album, Sweetener, will be released August 2018.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARIANA GRANDE Joseph CarozzaJoseph.Carozza@umusic.com
Bryan Kehn Bryan.Kehn@umusic.com
ABOUT REPUBLIC RECORDS A division of Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company, Republic Records is home to an all-star roster of multi-platinum, award-winning legends and superstar artists such as Ariana Grande, Black Sabbath, Florence + the Machine, Hailee Steinfeld, James Blake, James Bay, John Mellencamp, Jordan Smith, Julia Michaels, Keith Richards, Kid Cudi, Liam Payne, Of Monsters and Men, Post Malone, Seth MacFarlane, Stevie Wonder, and more. Founded by brothers and chief executives Monte and Avery Lipman, it is also comprised of innovative business ventures, including American Recordings (The Avett Brothers), Boominati Worldwide (Metro Boomin), Brushfire (Jack Johnson), Casablanca Records (Tïesto), Cash Money (Drake, Jacquees, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj), Hollywood Records (Sofia Carson, Zendaya), Lava Records (Greta Van Fleet, Jessie J, Lorde), Monkeywrench (Pearl Jam), XO (Belly, NAV, The Weeknd), Roc Nation (Jaden Smith, Justine Skye, The Dream), among others. Republic also maintains a long-standing strategic alliance with country powerhouse Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift), and Universal Music Latin Entertainment (Luis Fonsi, J Balvin). In addition, Republic has expanded to release high-profile soundtracks for Universal Pictures (Fifty Shades of Grey, SING), Fox TV (Lee Daniels’ STAR, The Four), and NBC TV (The Voice), as well as other notable film and television franchises.
We Speak Music
SCARECROW’s John Blaze Delivers a Career Milestone With “Twisted” and Earns Josie Music Awards Song of the Year Nomination
John Blaze has spent nearly four decades fronting SCARECROW, the New York hard-rock outfit he founded in 1989, and in 2026 he delivered one of the most ambitious releases of his career with “Twisted.” Now, the song has reached another major milestone: “Twisted” has been nominated for Song of the Year in the Metal/Alternative category at the Josie Music Awards.
The nomination places Blaze and SCARECROW among this year’s recognized independent artists and songwriters at the Josie Music Awards, with the awards ceremony set to take place at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry. For an artist whose career has been built on persistence, independence and decades of hard-rock storytelling, the recognition gives “Twisted” an entirely new chapter.
Written by John Blaze and Chaffin, “Twisted” pulls together a lineup of guest players that reads like a rock family reunion, built around Blaze’s long-standing friendship with Dee Snider and the legacy of Twisted Sister, a band woven into SCARECROW’s story from its earliest days.
That connection goes all the way back to the beginning. SCARECROW’s original lineup featured guitarist Eddie Ojeda, best known for his work in Twisted Sister, and the two camps have remained connected ever since. “Twisted” makes that history explicit: Dee Snider appears on the record with guest vocals during the track’s climactic second verse and chorus, lending the song an instantly recognizable jolt of arena-rock power.
Snider isn’t the only marquee name in the credits. Mark Wood, founding violinist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, contributes electrifying violin work that gives “Twisted” a cinematic sweep uncommon in modern hard rock. Rounding out the track are TJ Jordan on lead guitar and Bobby Marks on drums, creating a powerful, road-tested foundation behind Blaze’s signature gritty vocal delivery.
The Josie Music Awards nomination feels particularly fitting because “Twisted” isn’t simply another SCARECROW release. It brings together different eras of Blaze’s musical life while pushing the band’s sound forward. There’s history in the recording, but there’s also urgency. It doesn’t sound like a band looking backward. It sounds like one with unfinished business.
For Blaze, the nomination also represents recognition of a career that has largely been built outside the traditional machinery of the mainstream music business. Independent rock artists rarely survive for decades without a fierce commitment to what they do, and SCARECROW’s longevity speaks for itself. From the band’s early years and its 1991 debut, through the Blood, Sweat and 20 Years retrospective and the theatrical production I Am SCARECROW, Blaze has continued developing a world around the music rather than simply releasing songs.
That makes the Song of the Year nomination especially meaningful. After nearly four decades of building SCARECROW, Blaze now heads to the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry with one of his most ambitious songs recognized in the Metal/Alternative category.
And there’s something wonderfully appropriate about the song that got him there.
“Twisted” connects SCARECROW’s beginnings to its present, reunites Blaze musically with figures tied to the band’s history, and demonstrates just how much fire remains in the project. With Snider and Wood contributing to the record and Blaze still driving the band he created from the ground up, the track feels less like a nostalgic reunion than a statement of survival.
Now it’s also an award-nominated song.
For John Blaze and SCARECROW, nearly four decades into the journey, “Twisted” has become more than another entry in the catalog. It’s a career milestone — and this September, that milestone is taking SCARECROW all the way to the Grand Ole Opry.
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