mariah carey above everybody, whitney houston underneath that, and one english art-pop musician who explains more than either.
the short answer
mariah carey is the one she names first and most often, followed by whitney houston. she has also cited imogen heap, judy garland, celine dion, christina aguilera, brandy, india.arie, amy winehouse and kristin chenoweth. the two that are most audible in the actual records are carey, for the whistle register and the runs, and heap, for the harmony stacking.
mariah carey, first and by a distance
she has called carey her favourite human being on the planet and has been saying versions of that since she was a teenager. what she took is specific rather than general: the whistle register, the melisma, and — more importantly — the idea that a vocal line can be an arrangement rather than a melody with decoration on it.
the evidence predates her career. the most-viewed thing on her personal youtube channel is a cover of carey's emotions, recorded before any of this, and it is where her highest recorded note comes from. the piece on the two of them covers the rest.
imogen heap, which nobody guesses
if you want one listening exercise: play heap's hide and seek and then the last thirty seconds of almost any grande chorus. the vocabulary is the same. the samples page covers what is formally credited.
the rest, and what each contributed
| who | what is audible |
|---|---|
| whitney houston | the belt, and the discipline of not using it constantly |
| judy garland | the theatrical phrasing — a line sung as a character |
| celine dion | control at volume, and the impressions she does of it |
| brandy and india.arie | the r&b harmony language of yours truly |
| amy winehouse | the willingness to sing something unflattering about yourself |
| kristin chenoweth | the original glinda, and the light soprano placement it needs |
| madonna | less the voice than the idea that an era is a visual argument |
the one that is not a singer
musical theatre generally, which is the training rather than the taste — the fort lauderdale children's theater, 13 on broadway, and a school orchestra. that is the thing that separates her from every other pop vocalist of her generation, and it is why the wicked casting was not a stretch.
the chenoweth entry above closes that loop neatly. she named the original broadway glinda as an influence years before anybody was casting the film.
questions people ask
who is ariana grande's biggest influence?
mariah carey, by a distance. she has named her more often than anybody else and has called her her favourite human being on the planet.
who else has ariana grande cited?
whitney houston, imogen heap, judy garland, celine dion, christina aguilera, brandy, india.arie, amy winehouse and kristin chenoweth, among others.
how did imogen heap influence her?
through dense, close-stacked vocal harmony used as texture. it is the structural basis of the choruses on sweetener and everything after.
did she cover mariah carey?
yes — an early cover of emotions is the most-viewed video on her personal youtube channel and contains her highest recorded note.
what about musical theatre?
it is the training rather than the taste, and it is the thing that separates her from every other pop vocalist of her generation.