American pop star Ariana Grande is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut album, Yours Truly.
The 30-year-old singer-songwriter took to TikTok to thank her fans for their unending love and support.
“Thank you for being in my life and for spectacular 10 years and for supporting me every step along the way, accepting me, loving me, allowing humanness, and everything,” she said.
She added, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
As part of the week-long celebration, Ariana posted a two-part Q&A video on TikTok, where she answered questions from her fans about the 2013 studio album.
The questions were written on pieces of paper that Ariana picked from a glass bowl. These questions were collected from X.
Here are six interesting facts that the two-time Grammy winner has revealed:
The Way MV was filmed without her label’s knowledge
The Way is a song collaboration between Arianna and her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller.
The song’s music video featured Ariana, Mac, and several dancers performing in a white room filled with balloons. Videos were also flashed in the background.
Ariana said that the music video was most fun to film for her as they did it without any budget and with the knowledge of her record label.
She recalled that they had a few pieces of equipment, props, and manpower at that time, including a camera, a projector, balloons, and dancers.
“We just made it [and] showed it to the label, ‘cause they brought it up to me, they were like, ‘We need to shoot a music video’ and I was like, ‘Oh, we already did it,’” the Honeymoon Avenue singer said.
Her label, meanwhile, complemented the music video and said it “was fun,” according to Arianna.
Honeymoon Avenue is her favorite single from the album
One fan got curious about the singer’s favorite non-single on Yours Truly, to which Ariana replied, “Honeymoon Avenue.”
Honeymoon Avenue is the opening song of her debut album. In the song, Ariana talks about her desire to return to the happy moments, or the Honeymoon Avenue, of what seems to be her failing relationship.
The chorus goes, “I feel like my heart is stuck in bumper to bumper traffic; I’m under pressure ’cause I can’t have you the way that I want; Let’s just go back to the way it was; When we were on Honeymoon Avenue; Honeymoon Avenue, baby; Coastin’ like crazy; Can we get back to the way it was?”
Ariana released her live performance of the song last week, which was filmed in London.
She changed her album’s cover due to ‘bullying’
Yours Truly was not supposed to have a monochrome album cover with a pink cursive lettering of “Yours Truly” atop.
The original cover was supposed to feature Ariana kneeling on a bed of pink flowers with a pink backdrop, but the singer changed it because of the negative comments about it.
“You guys got very angry when you saw it. I was very sad about that, and I changed it. You were right, but you’re not always right,” Ariana stressed.
She went on, “Your bullying has been consistent over the past 10 years, so there’s that.”
While she took the suggestion of netizens, Ariana said, “Sometimes, it leaves me with wounds that make me question everything I’ve done since.”
‘Yours Truly’ was not her first option for the album’s title
In 2013, Billboard reported that the original title of Ariana’s album was Daydreamin’ but she changed it to Yours Truly.
Ariana explained on TikTok that she was actually debating between Honeymoon Avenue and Daydreamin’ as the title of her first album, but she could not decide between the two.
What she was sure about at that time was that she wanted her album to be like a letter to the world, she said.
“I just wanted it to be some sort of a love letter, an introduction to the world, and how you sign a letter, like a love letter, is yours truly,” the singer said.
“I’m glad that we went with that,” she added.
It took her three years to record ‘Yours Truly‘
The Tattooed Heart singer also shared that she spent three years completing her songs for Yours Truly while also filming the teen sitcom Victorious.
Ariana portrayed the cheerful Cat Valentine in the 2010 television series.
“I was simultaneously shooting Victorious. I would go at night, I would go on weekends,” she recalled.
The singer said that she had fun during those three years of making the album.
Tattooed Heart was the only song she wrote in the album
Tattooed Heart has been one of fans’ favorite songs by Arianna.
The singer-songwriter revealed that she was 17 years old when she wrote Tattooed Heart in her room. She added that it was the only song on the album that she wrote herself.
Tattooed Heart came to life with the help of producer Matt Squire and 303.
“I do love it so much, and it feels like a really important one. I am very proud of it,” she said.
