The 17 best and 17 worst Ariana Grande songs of all time

• Ariana Grande has iconic hits like "Thank U, Next," as well as first-rate deep cuts like "Only 1."

• "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" recently joined the ranks of her best-ever songs.

• However, Grande has also released some duds, including "Blazed," "Focus," and "Bang Bang."

When "Victorious" premiered on Nickelodeon in March 2010, Ariana Grande became known as the bubbly, spacey, red-haired Cat Valentine, a high schooler with a prodigious voice.

The following year, she released her debut single — and less than three years later, Grande had seamlessly pivoted to a full-time music career. Though it took some time to carve her own unique space in a crowded industry, she now boasts seven studio albums, 15 Grammy nominations, and a reputation as an illustrious, intrepid pop icon.

Business Insider's senior music reporter weighed factors like listenability, lyrical quality, production value, and critic reception to come up with the 17 best and 17 worst songs of the singer's career thus far.

"We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)" pairs earnest lyrics with engrossing electro-pop.

"We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)," the second single from Grande's seventh album "Eternal Sunshine," is immediately easy to like. The steady, thumping beat recalls Robyn's "Call Your Girlfriend," while Grande's subtle vocal performance evokes Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek." It's a head-bobber and a heartbreaker all at once.

Indeed, "We Can't Be Friends" is presented as a straightforward breakup song, particularly in the context of Grande's divorce. In the music video, she mimics the plot of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" attempting to wipe all memories of her failed relationship for a fresh start.

But the lyrics are enigmatic enough to invite other interpretations — namely, that Grande is serenading us, her audience, rather than her ex. Her aching pleas for compassion ("Know that you made me / I don't like how you paint me") become even more affecting through this lens. Perhaps it's our collective memory — the compulsive catalog of her scandals and mistakes, alive forever on the internet — that Grande really wants to erase.

Like most great pop songs, "We Can't Be Friends" works on many levels. Grande draws a parallel between the post-split haze — where two lovers become strangers again — and the fickle, alienating veil of fame. Every listener is cast in the role of her tormentor.

Song highlight: "Me and my truth, we sit in silence / Baby girl, it's just me and you / I don't wanna argue, but I don't wanna bite / My tongue, I think I'd rather die."

If you like this, listen to: "Eternal Sunshine"

"Nasty" proves that Grande's singular voice can elevate any template.

The dialogue surrounding "Nasty" has focused too much on its filthy premise and not nearly enough on how much it slaps.

The song pairs a shimmery, near-spooky landscape with an elastic trap beat. Thanks to this ingenious production from The Rascals, "Nasty" bounces and glides. Sprinkled with Grande's casual whistle notes, "Nasty" is an effortless display of taste and talent.

That she can sing these horny-teenager lyrics ("Get all the homies to bounce / Switch from the bed to the couch / And get to know how I'm feelin' inside") and still sound heaven-sent is a testament to Grande's singularity. "Nasty" speaks to her power as a vocalist — as well as her confidence to step into any musical terrain, slip on any set of lyrics, and own the room.

Song highlight: "Like this pussy designed for ya" is brilliantly unhinged.

If you like this, listen to: "Safety Net," "West Side," "Supernatural"

"POV" is the emotional summit of "Positions."

"POV," the final song on Grande's sixth album "Positions," is musical dessert. Placed ingeniously at the end of the tracklist, it leaves you with a sweet taste and rosy-cheeked fullness.

Unsurprisingly, Grande's vocals are transcendent, particularly in the final verse.

But what's more, lyrically, "POV" may be the best ballad in Grande's entire catalog.

This song is sentimental and expressive without feeling pretentious ("How you touch my soul from the outside? / Permeate my ego and my pride"); conversational and yet poetic ("I'd love to see me from your point of view"). Grande nudges you to remember her past trauma and pain, but she remains radiantly hopeful.

Song highlight: The rainy sound effects add a beautiful, meditative texture.

If you like this, listen to: "Obvious," "Imperfect for You," "Ordinary Things"

"Thank U, Next" is Grande's most iconic song to date.

No one else could have written "Thank U, Next."

I do mean that in a literal sense, given the song's intensely personal content. But additionally, on an emotional and spiritual level, only Grande — at this specific moment in her career — could have channeled this sort of charm and wisdom into a pop song with an inside joke for a title.

The cliché phrase about catching lightning in a bottle was designed for whatever brilliance coursed through Grande's veins when she recorded this song — and then again when she found the courage to release it in its most raw, honest form. It literally changed the trajectory of her career, and probably the essential DNA of pop music, for the rest of time.

Song highlight: Opening a song by name-dropping ex-boyfriends? A cultural reset.

If you like this, listen to: "Boyfriend," "Don't Wanna Break Up Again"

"Needy" is the beating heart of Grande's best, most intimate album.

I previously named "Needy" one of the nine best songs released in 2019 — though truthfully, that feels inadequate. It's one of the best pop ballads in recent memory, easily one of the brightest gems in Grande's catalog.

"Needy" operates on a level beyond lyrics or production; it creates an entire mood, a shift in the atmosphere, behaving more like an emotional moment or a memory than a song.

It feels like you're sitting with Grande, hearts beating and chests tightened, as she pens a late-night diary entry. She makes "needy" sound like a curse word and a prayer.

Song highlight: The evocative parallel of "Tell me how good it feels to be needed," versus, "I know it feels so good to be needed."

If you like this, listen to: "Imagine," "Ghostin," "I Wish I Hated You"

Lyrically, "In My Head" is one of Grande's strongest songs ever.

There are so many vivid, deliciously intentional details in this song that it's hard to pick a favorite: the tough love from Grande's longtime friend, Doug Middlebrook; the specific mention of "Gucci tennis shoes," which feels like a subtle jab at Pete Davidson's "scumbro" aesthetic; the Biblical reference to Cain and Abel.

"In My Head" also features some incredibly sharp production. It seamlessly blends elements of pop, trap, and R&B, hitting hard without feeling obvious or effortful.

Song highlight: The tonal switch in the bridge adds another layer of depth and urgency. Plus, it features the song's most clever and relatable line: "I saw your potential without seeing credentials."

If you like this, listen to: "Leave Me Lonely," "Bloodline"

"No Tears Left to Cry" embodies everything there is to love about Grande, both as a person and an artist.

"No Tears Left to Cry" is the kind of song that makes you remember exactly where you were and who you were with when you heard it for the first time.

With its sudden tempo shift and UK garage-inspired beat, the song is weird, especially compared to Grande's previous work. Releasing it as "Sweetener's" lead single was a choice — but only in the best possible way.

"No Tears" is intoxicating, energizing, and bubbly, like a gulp of spiked soda on a hot summer day. It would be a phenomenal song by any standards, but for Grande, it was also an important moment: The single was her first release after the Manchester bombing, and instead of retreating into balladry or crooning a traditional tribute, she mourned while she soared.

"No Tears" confirmed that she hadn't lost her optimism or range in the face of trauma, and solidified Grande as our modern poptimist prophet.

Song highlight: "Right now, I'm in a state of mind / I wanna be in like all the time." The "like" is key.

If you like this, listen to: "Dance to This," "Rain On Me"

"God Is a Woman" feels like a portal to an otherworldly, feminist paradise.

As I wrote when I ranked "God Is a Woman" at No. 80 on BI's list of the decade's best songs: If "No Tears Left to Cry" was Grande's triumphant comeback single, "God Is a Woman" let us know that we had it all wrong. "Sweetener" wouldn't simply be a comeback. It marked a rebirth for Grande, the work of a new-age icon approaching her creative peak — and "God Is a Woman" was its thesis statement.

Generally, Grande's futuristic-angel album is best heard as a complete experience, with each song playing off and elevating the others. Listening to "Sweetener" feels like hopping from one cloud to another.

But "God Is a Woman" exists in its own universe, taking a detour beyond the visible atmosphere and skyrocketing into Grande's vividly feminine paradise.

Song highlight: The choir of Grande voices that closes the song truly brings it to another level.

If you like this, listen to: "Dangerous Woman"

"R.E.M" is shimmering, warm, and brilliantly understated.

Pharrell's glittering production on "R.E.M." does wonders for Grande's style. It allows her voice to remain the focus, but more sunlit than spotlit. She uses warm and tender tones rarely flexed in her earlier albums, which tend to stay dominated by (equally impressive but) far less subtle vocal runs.

Here are some images that spring to mind when I listen to this song: a warm summer breeze; cotton candy that doesn't taste disgusting; the sparkly eyes of anime characters; Monet's water lilies. It's like scrolling through a very nicely curated Tumblr feed, but for your ears instead of your eyes.

Song highlight: "Excuse me, um... I love you."

If you like this, listen to: "Goodnight n Go," "Pete Davidson," "Positions"

Put simply, "Everytime" slaps.

"Everytime" is a clear yet underappreciated highlight on "Sweetener."

The song feels like a conversation that you'd have with your best friend, or a drunken monologue in the back of an Uber: "You get high and call on the regular / I get weak and fall like a teenager," Grande sings, half-frustrated and half-defiant. "I get drunk, pretend that I'm over it / Self-destruct, show up like an idiot."

Set to a recklessly fun, trap-infused beat, it's impossible not to get swept up in the whole experience — much like Grande gets swept up in her toxic patterns. It's a striking moment of self-reflection, and yet, she's not exactly vowing to make a change. She doesn't sound preachy, or defeatist, or pretentiously self-aware. She sounds like a person who's figuring it out and having fun at the same time.

"Everytime" takes a situation so familiar, so relatable for many of Grande's 20-something female fans, and turns it into a straight-up banger.

Song highlight: I'm a sucker for a song with an nonobvious song title. Calling it "Back to You" would've stripped some of its magic away.

If you like this, listen to: "Fake Smile," "Worst Behavior," "The Boy Is Mine"

"Get Well Soon" is an astonishing artistic statement.

"Get Well Soon" is easily the most ambitious song in Grande's catalog — and it's impossible to overstate how well it paid off.

The "Sweetener" album closer is a shining example of the singer's artistry. It's truly unlike anything else, both in terms of production and thematic resonance; it shows what she can really do when she's unconcerned with traditional song structures, focused on healing, and provided plenty of soil to root and bloom.

There is enough depth, nuance, and emotion weaved into the track's five minutes to saturate an entire album. And every layer — every celestial chord and hidden harmony and hypnotic "yuh" — is designed to swirl together and feel like a healing experience, a sonic embrace. When Grande chirps, "I'm with you, I'm with you, I'm with you," you can tell she means it.

Song highlight: "You can feel it, feel it."

If you like this, listen to: "Honeymoon Avenue"

"Be Alright" is a fan favorite, for good reason.

Although "Be Alright" never truly got its due — a music video, radio promotion, etc. — it's impossible to imagine an Ariana Grande concert without a crisply choreographed performance of her most accessibly optimistic song.

"Be Alright" is an essential member of Grande's discography, an invaluable element of any Grande-inspired playlist. For this fandom, it's like an organ or a limb.

Song highlight: The subtle, anti-gravity drop that comes in the chorus, right after Grande's first assurance that "we're gonna be alright."

If you like this, listen to: "Sweetener," "Successful," "Yes, And?"

"Into You" is the perfect pop song.

What can I say about "Into You" that hasn't already been said? In the words of Lorde, it's the "closest thing to pop perfection I've ever heard."

In terms of your classic, most successful version of a "pop song" — a vibrant, catchy, open-hearted confection that induces sheer euphoria and/or an irresistible urge to dance — "Into You" is the holy grail.

Song highlight: Grande nails her low register as she purrs that perfect opening line: "I'm so into you, I can barely breathe."

If you like this, listen to: "Be My Baby," "Knew Better / Forever Boy," "Bad Idea"

"Thinking Bout You" combines dazzling vocals with atmospheric production.

"Thinking Bout You" was the perfect way to close "Dangerous Woman," an album ostensibly designed to showcase Grande's womanhood. The song acts as a grounding force, particularly at the end of such an eclectic tracklist, and leaves you with a feeling of gravity and maturity.

The great power of "Thinking Bout You" lies in its gradual build. The heady, thumping first verse gives way to Grande's majestic vocals, then to a twinkling chorus. The song moves in waves, finally cresting in the cathartic bridge, which ends like a burst of lightning from an overcast sky.

The song combines delicate melancholia and suggestive lyrics to create a swelling, freeing experience. Whether it's about sex or late-night nostalgia or something else entirely, "Thinking Bout You" is a remarkable feat of detail-oriented production and emotional edging.

Song highlight: The swell of synths that follow and envelop the bridge's final line: "But at least I have the memory."

If you like this, listen to: "Adore"

"One Last Time" feels at once spacious, uplifting, and melancholic.

"One Last Time" is a one-of-a-kind song. Like any great mid-2010s pop hit, it boasts a bright, confident hook and EDM-inspired synths — but it's also an exquisite cocktail of emotion.

It glides and sparkles like a radio-friendly bop, so it may leave you feeling very hopeful, but could just as easily make you cry. "One Last Time" practically vibrates with sincerity; it's like a three-minute therapy session.

Of course, the song's gravity increased when "One Last Time" was re-released as a charity single in 2017 to raise money for the Manchester bombing victims. After Grande and her friends performed the song at the end of One Love Manchester, fans adopted "One Last Time" as a symbol of resilience and radical empathy.

Song highlight: Opening a song with a confession, "I was a liar, I gave in to the fire," is so tender and bold.

If you like this, listen to: "Break Free," "Breathin"

"Only 1" is timeless.

When Grande performed "Only 1" during a live BBC special in 2018, tweets with the video began circulating, many expressing excitement that she'd teased a new song.

Now, despite complaints of "locals," it's unfair to expect every fan to know an artist's discography top to bottom. What strikes me most about those tweets is how modern, how innovative, how very refreshing "Only 1" would sound if it had sat untouched for the past six years and Grande released it for the first time today. Or any day, really. It never gets old.

Song highlight: The vocal run in the chorus: "No I can't / BEEeee yoOURr only one."