nicki minaj four times, the weeknd four times, lady gaga once — and her own grandmother, which is the one nobody sees coming.
the short answer
her two most frequent collaborators are nicki minaj — bang bang, side to side, the light is coming and get on your knees — and the weeknd, on love me harder, off the table, the save your tears remix and the die for you remix. the best of them are side to side and rain on me with lady gaga. the strangest and most affecting is ordinary things, which features her grandmother.
the recurring partners
| artist | songs | the best one |
|---|---|---|
| nicki minaj | bang bang, side to side, the light is coming | side to side — genuinely funny, which pop rarely allows itself |
| the weeknd | love me harder, off the table, save your tears (remix), die for you (remix) | love me harder — the record that made the 2014 pivot make sense |
| mac miller | the way | the way — 2013, and it still sounds like summer |
| big sean | right there, best mistake | best mistake — the quieter of the two, and the better |
the one-offs worth hearing
- rain on me — lady gaga (2020). two of the biggest vocalists in pop, recorded in separate rooms during a pandemic, on a record about crying and carrying on. it won a grammy and deserved it.
- bang bang — jessie j and nicki minaj (2014). three vocalists competing openly on the same track, which is a format that almost never works and does here.
- stuck with u — justin bieber (2020). a charity single that went to number one. more interesting as a document of its moment than as a song.
- don't call me angel — miley cyrus and lana del rey (2019). three enormous artists and a soundtrack brief. included for completeness rather than for quality.
- boyfriend — social house (2019). the one people forget, and one of her most likeable singles.
the album features
the guests she brings onto her own records tell you more than the ones who bring her onto theirs: future on everyday, macy gray on leave me lonely, missy elliott on borderline, doja cat on motive, ty dolla $ign on safety net. it is a wider range than the singles suggest, and it skews toward writers and vocalists rather than toward chart insurance.
ordinary things
the closing track of eternal sunshine ends with a spoken passage from her grandmother, marjorie grande. it is the only feature in the catalogue by somebody who is not a musician, and it made her the oldest living person to appear on the billboard hot 100.
questions people ask
who has ariana grande collaborated with most?
nicki minaj and the weeknd, with four songs each. minaj on bang bang, side to side, the light is coming and get on your knees; the weeknd on love me harder, off the table and two remixes.
what is ariana grande's best collaboration?
side to side with nicki minaj and rain on me with lady gaga are the two strongest. love me harder with the weeknd is the most important to the shape of her career.
did ariana grande and lady gaga work together?
once, on rain on me in 2020. it went to number one and won the grammy for best pop duo/group performance.
who features on ariana grande's albums?
across the catalogue: mac miller, big sean, the weeknd, nicki minaj, future, macy gray, missy elliott, doja cat, ty dolla $ign, social house and — on eternal sunshine — her grandmother.