Ariana Grande’s 98-year-old gran breaks record for oldest person to hit the Billboard Hot 100
Ariana Grande‘s grandmother – Marjorie “Nonna” Grande – has made history by becoming the oldest person to hit the Billboard Hot 100.
The 98-year-old is featured on Grande’s track ‘Ordinary things’ from her latest studio album ‘Eternal Sunshine‘. The song earned the 55th spot on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting a new record for the oldest person to appear on the chart.
At the end of ‘Ordinary Things’, “Nonna” – who is credited as a co-writer of the song – closes out the track by reflecting on her late husband, Frank, saying: “And when he’d come home and I’d see him, when he first gets off that train / It was like God almighty arrived / It was like seein’ daylight”. “Nonna” then proceeds to offer advice saying: “And as I told her, never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight / That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that”.
The late Fred Stobaugh previously held the record, earning the title at 96-years-old after appearing on the Green Shoe Studio track ‘Oh Sweet Lorraine’. The song spent a week on the Billboard Hot 100 back on 2013 and landed the 42nd spot. ‘Oh Sweet Lorraine’ was accredited to Green Shoe Studio and featured the song’s vocalist Jacob Colgan and its writer, Stobaugh.
Prior to that, Tony Bennett held the titled on the charts after ‘Body and Soul’, his 2011 collaborative track with Amy Winehouse spent a week at Number 87 upon its release.
In an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Grande shared: “I always record my Nonna, because you never know what she’s going to say. I had this 30-minute voice note of her and her friend Shirley talking.”
Speaking about the inclusion of her “Nonna” in the outro of ‘Ordinary Things’, the singer said: “I think it’s a little bit of, ‘Wow, our loved ones, our friends and our family have the ability to instantly just sort of soothe and calm and simplify things that are so complicated and heavy at times.’”
‘Eternal Sunshine‘ marks Grande’s seventh studio LP. In a four-star review of the album, NME shared: “It’s the most sophisticated project yet from a preternaturally talented vocalist who keeps getting better. Whatever you take away from it, ‘Eternal Sunshine’ definitely isn’t an album you’ll want to wipe from memory.”
In other news, the singer recently reflected on the “overwhelmingly loving response” to her new album.
Grande recently shared ‘Eternal Sunshine (Slightly Deluxe)’, which includes a Troye Sivan feature among four new songs. She also performed ‘Imperfect For You’ and ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)’ on Saturday Night Live earlier this month.
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Anagricel Duran
NME
