Ariana Grande has spent just over a decade as one of the top names in the global music industry. From the moment she released her debut album Yours Truly in 2013, she’s continually churned out massive hits, and her reach has pushed past simply pop and into other styles, such as R&B, dance, and recently, even show tunes via Wicked.
The superstar reaches another Billboard chart this week with one of her most recent releases. As she debuts a special collaboration on the tally, she earns her first smash on the list, which was only introduced a few days ago.
Grande scores her first top 10 hit on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart this frame, which is actually the first ever for the ranking. The singer and actress joins Charli XCX on “Sympathy is a Knife,” which kicks off its time on the brand-new roster at No. 6.
“Sympathy is a Knife” earns Grande her first placement on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs roster, but Charli has quickly become the most successful musician on Billboard’s latest roster. She opens the tally with half a dozen charting tunes, including a quartet of top 10s.
Amazingly, even though Grande is credited on “Sympathy is a Knife,” bringing some megawatt star power to the cut, the song doesn’t rank as Charli’s biggest hit on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs list. She enjoys a winning streak between Nos. 2 and 4, with “Apple,” “360,” and “Guess,” a collaboration with Billie Eilish, debuting at Nos. 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
Grande is one of several major stars who help introduce the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart to the world. In addition to Charli and Eilish, she’s also joined inside the top 10 by names like Katy Perry, The Weeknd, and Kesha.
“Sympathy is a Knife” is one of many songs featured on Charli’s most recent album Brat, and it became a global sensation after she recruited a fellow musician to join her on a remix. Once Grande was included, the cut reached many rankings it had missed when it was a solo affair, including a handful of Billboard tallies.
The Grande take on “Sympathy is a Knife” turned out to be one of the most popular tracks on Charli’s Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, the retitled remix version of Brat. The song arrived on October 11, 2024, the same day as the full-length, which had already been promoted with a number of high-profile collaborations for months before the Grammy nominee dropped the full-length.
