Ariana Grande Reveals Why Her Label Didn’t Approve Original ‘Santa Tell Me’ Video
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Ariana Grande marked becoming the first female artist to have 14 songs surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify by joining the platform for its sixth episode of the Billions Club series.
Per its title, the series welcomes artists who have reached the 1 billion streams milestone on the music service. In the midst of recording at Jungle City Studios in New York City, per a press release, Grande received a total of 14 plaques for: “One Last Time,” “Bang Bang (with Jesse J & Nicki Minaj),” “Santa Tell Me,” “Dangerous Woman,” “Side To Side,” “Into You,” “No Tears Left to Cry,” “God Is a Woman,” “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings,” “Stuck With U (with Justin Bieber),” “Rain on Me (with Lady Gaga),” “Positions,” and “Save Your Tears (with The Weeknd).”
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To highlight each of the singer’s achievements, Spotify placed objects next to each plaque that represented the song as Grande shared the memories behind the music. “We have crammed so much into the last 10 years, and I am so grateful for the love and support of the people who listen to these songs,” she said. “This really shook me a little.”
In the episode, Grande recalled that her hit Christmas track, 2014’s “Santa Tell Me,” was actually a “backup video.” “In the original video, I was in weird Christmas lingerie and I was hitting Santa with a cane pole,” she laughed. “I was like, ‘That is the right vibe for this song, believe you me.’ And the label was like, ‘Hey, honey… I don’t think we can use this.'” She added, “I was glad I was reeled in that time.”
Her dog, Toulouse, makes a cameo partway through her walk through memory lane. Her furry buddy has made several appearances in her music videos, including “No Tears Left to Cry.”
When revisiting “7 Rings,” the Grammy winner remarked, “This was my first to pass a billion streams.” She said, “It’s a really absurd number. I can’t wrap my head around the number.”
Posting the Billions Club video on Instagram, Grande wrote that “filming this little episode was such a sweet little commemoration and gratitude meltdown, if you will.” She continued, addressing her fans and noting that she didn’t expect to get emotional during filming: “but it really, truly hit me! so much of my life has been spent doing this, with and for you all. so many little pieces of my life are stowed away all snug in these little, silly songs forever.”
After announcing that her seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine is set to drop March 8, the singer said that she won’t be sharing any more new singles ahead of its release. “I wanted to say… as hard as it is to resist the urge to share another song or single with you all ASAP, I would really love for you to experience the album in full this time, she said earlier this week.”
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