Ariana Grande’s music career spans over a decade, producing some of the biggest hits for our generation. In addition to being the biggest pop star of our generation, Ariana Grande is also one of the greatest performers. She leaves her heart on the stage every time and has given fans dozens of live performances, which fans often debate over which are her bests.
HM:
One Love Manchester Concert on June 4th 2017
While on tour for her Dangerous Woman album in 2017, one of Ariana Grande’s concerts was attacked by a bomber leaving 22 dead and more in hospitals. In the aftermath of the bombing, Ariana Grande decided to host another performance alongside many other famous musicians with all the profit going to the victims of the initial incident.
5. Positions Album – Vevo live performances 2021
For the ‘Positions’ album Ariana Grande released a live video of her performing the songs ‘pov’, ‘positions’, ‘safety net’, ‘my hair’, ‘34+35’ and ‘off the table’ on a private stage with the look of a cozy meadow. Her vocals in these videos are so beautiful making fans wish she did this for all of her albums.I realize these could technically count as different performances for each song but I count this as one performance because while there are different videos for each song they were all recorded together and released together like a mini concert. During her live version of ‘positions’ Ariana Grande uses a tabletop loop station while singing to create her own backing vocals, showcasing how she cares for her craft. The band for this performance was amazing and Ariana Grande truly put her all into making this an unforgettable performance.
4.Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande at the 2025 Oscars
Prior to this very recent performance, Ariana Grande had not performed ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ since the One Love Manchester concert back in 2017. I loved hearing her sing this again and it made me appreciate how much she has grown in her career. Last year alone she has made so much growth as a singer, especially with her role as Glinda in Wicked challenging her to sing in a completely different way than she normally does in her own music. Every time i’ve seen her and Cynthia Erivo perform it blows me away. Both of their voices fit together so perfectly and they have such good chemistry together onstage as performers. Cynthia is one of the most powerful singers in the industry today and being able to hear both of these talented women share the stage together is nothing short of a masterpiece each and every time they sing together. I fully realize this performance was much more Cynthia’s than Ariana’s but it is my favorite Oscars performance making it worthy of this list.
3.‘Focus’ – 2015 American Music Awards
This performance is a common fan favorite due to the subtle jazz element Ariana grande added to the performance but what most don’t know is that she had a fever of 103 and yet, this still became one of the most iconic performances of her career. When looking back at the performance, I always find it so hard to believe that she had a fever of 103 due to her not showing a single sign of feeling unwell, she danced without missing a beat, sang her heart out and hit some of the hardest notes in music all while having a temperature of 103. This was the performance that I feel proved how well deserving Ariana Grande is of her success. I don’t know another performer who can put on the exact same show sick vs at full health yet she seemed to do it with ease while wearing high platform heels.
2. ‘Yours Truly’ tenth anniversary live from London 2023
For the 10th anniversary of her first album ‘yours truly’, Ariana Grande released a bonus edition of the album including videos of Ariana performing 6 of the songs live. This was similar to the ‘Positions’ album performance she did in 2021. Out of the 13 songs on the original album she released the live versions of ‘Honeymoon Avenue’, ‘Daydreamin’, ‘Baby I’, ‘Tattooed Heart’, ‘Right There’, and ‘The Way’. I loved this album growing up and after Victorious was over it was what made me realize Ariana Grande had her own music outside of the show. The band she got for this was outstanding and hearing her sing her first album after having so much musical growth is such a beautiful homage to where she started. Some of my favorite Ariana Grande songs are among the 6 we got in the deluxe album making the whole performance a favorite of mine.
- The Weeknd & Ariana Grande – ‘Save Your Tears’ – 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s voices harmonize so beautifully together on every single one of their projects, but especially in their 2021 performance of ‘save your tears’ at the iHeart radio music awards. This is one of my favorite Ariana Grande performances for multiple reasons, the main being how much love you can see on the stage between her and The Weeknd. There are moments during their performance when he looks at her with pure admiration, especially when she hits the whistle tone towards the end of the song. Everything about this performance was perfect to me from the vocals, to Grande’s entrance onstage that set the crowd into cheers. The Weeknd looked so genuinely proud of her, and Ariana Grande looked so happy to be sharing the stage with him again, making this performance a fan favorite among Arianators.