it was going to be called moonlight. the decision to change it is the single most consequential thing that happened to her career before 2018.
the short answer
dangerous woman is her third studio album, released on 20 may 2016. it was announced as moonlight, with focus as its lead single, and retitled late in the process. it debuted at number two on the billboard 200 — the only album of hers that has not reached number one — and produced into you, side to side and the title track.
the album that was going to be called moonlight
in october 2015 she released focus as the lead single of a third album titled moonlight. the record that arrived seven months later was called dangerous woman, had a different lead single, and did not include focus on the standard edition at all. that is an unusually late and unusually total change of direction for a major pop release.
what changed with it was the register. moonlight, on the evidence of focus, was going to be a brighter and more conventional follow-up to my everything. dangerous woman is not bright. it is lower, slower in places, considerably more adult, and it is the first record where the persona is hers rather than assigned to her by a network — the victorious shadow ends here, and it ends deliberately.
the singles
- dangerous woman. a slow-burning guitar record with a vocal that goes somewhere none of the earlier singles had. nominated for best pop solo performance at the grammys.
- into you. the best pop single she has released, on a widely held view, and it never reached the us top thirty. it now has over two billion spotify plays — more than several of her number ones.
- side to side, with nicki minaj. a dancehall pastiche that became the era's biggest song and its most misread one.
- everyday, with future. the last single, and the one that shows how far the record had moved from focus.
the only one that did not reach number one
what came after it
the dangerous woman tour, seventy-seven shows across five continents, and on 22 may 2017 the attack at manchester arena. everything about how this record is discussed now is coloured by what happened during the tour supporting it, and it is not possible to write about the era without that. the piece on one love manchester covers the thirteen days that followed.
which means dangerous woman occupies an odd position in the catalogue: the last record made before the thing that divides the career in two. it is the sound of somebody about to become an entirely different kind of public figure, and it does not know that yet.
questions people ask
was dangerous woman going to be called moonlight?
yes. it was announced as moonlight with focus as the lead single, and retitled before release. focus is not on the standard tracklist.
did dangerous woman reach number one?
no. it debuted at number two on the billboard 200 behind drake's views, and it is the only ariana grande album never to reach the top.
when did dangerous woman come out?
20 may 2016, on republic records. it is her third studio album.
what happened during the dangerous woman tour?
a bomb was detonated at manchester arena after her show on 22 may 2017. the tour was suspended, and she returned to the city thirteen days later for one love manchester.