Ariana Grande's Voice Absolutely Soars with an A Capella "Dangerous Woman" Rendition

With the entire world awaiting the theatrical release of Universal Pictures' Wicked on November 22, 2024, there's no better time to shine a spotlight on one of the film's brightest stars, Ariana Grande.

At 31 years old, Grande has established herself as a stunning performer, singer, and actress, whether touring around the world or taking America by storm as a Coach during Season 21 of The Voice! There are thousands of incredible Grande performances to admire, but as Miley Cyrus taught us, sometimes the greatest vocal moments come when a singer performs one of their own songs, a capella. And in March 2016, the artist posted a video singing her hit "Dangerous Woman" sans-background music.

One YouTube commenter put it all into perspective: "She's amazing, no autotune, no microphone, and she sounds exactly the same [as the studio version]. No words."

Here's what to know about Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman"

Released in March 2016 as the lead single from Grande's third studio album of the same name, "Dangerous Woman" marked a more mature and bold direction for the artist. Fans and critics alike responded in overwhelming fashion the video of her a cappella version has garnered more than 131.2 million views since its release!

Spin gave the track massive praise, saying that "Without a doubt, ["Dangerous Woman" is] the most mature piece of music she's released to date… the song is smart, sexy, captivating, and sung to total perfection." Meanwhile, Rolling Stone declared, "the thrush-size diva with the five-alarm vocal power knocks out a sumptuously bluesy ode to her own awesomely lethal ladyhood," which loosely translates to "This song is really good."

"Dangerous Woman" reached the number eight spot on the Billboard Hot 100 during its 21 weeks on the chart and is currently one of Grande's 22 all-time top-10 hits. 

We expect even more unmatched vocals from Grande when she debuts as Glenda the Good Witch opposite Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba. But expect a slightly different sound from her Top 40 vocals, as she explained on Podcrushed in June. "I was very excited and grateful for the chance to even audition. I was in vocal lessons, acting lessons, for months before my first audition because Glinda's a soprano. Like, opera soprano, not in the way I'm a soprano in my pop [music]. It's just a very different placement in the voice, and I was just training it and training it. Because even thought the notes were there, it's different, and it's like singing them completely different."