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Thank U, Next (stylized in all lowercase) is the fifth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released on February 8, 2019, by Republic Records. Following the release of her previous studio album Sweetener (2018), Grande began working on a new album in October of the same year, enlisting writers and producers such as Tommy Brown, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh and Andrew "Pop" Wansel. The album was created in the midst of personal matters, including the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and breaking up with fiancé Pete Davidson.

The title track was released as the album's lead single on November 3, 2018 and became a commercial success, peaking atop of the charts of 12 countries and becoming Grande's first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100. The track also broke a string of records, including the record for the most plays in a single day by a female artist on Spotify. Its second single, "7 Rings", was released on January 18, 2019 and also performed well internationally, peaking at number one in 15 countries and making Grande the third female artist to have two or more songs debuting atop of the Billboard Hot 100. "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" was released as the third single on the day of the album's release. In support of both Sweetener and Thank U, Next, Grande will embark on the Sweetener World Tour, beginning in March 2019.

Background
In September 2018, Grande's ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, died from a drug overdose. The following month, Grande announced that she would take a break from music. That same month, however, Grande revealed that she had been in the studio working on new music, and she announced the Sweetener World Tour (2019). She stated that the tour would support both her fourth studio album, Sweetener (2018), and her upcoming fifth studio album. Later in October 2018, Grande broke off her engagement with comedian Pete Davidson. Without prior announcement, Grande released the title track of the album as the lead single on November 3, 2018.

Singles
"Thank U, Next" was released as the lead single from the album on November 3, 2018. She performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 7.

The second single, "7 Rings", was released on January 18, 2019. "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" was released as the third single on February 8, 2019.

Promotional singles
A promotional single, "Imagine", was released on December 14, 2018. Grande performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on December 18, 2018.

Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Thank U, Next has an average score of 87 based on thirteen reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Many critics praised the cohesiveness and production of the album. Ross Horton from The Line of Best Fit praised both the songwriting and production of the album, stating that it is an "airtight, dense pop record with an obnoxiously brash production" and commenting that "even the most delicate, sensual things here are tightly compressed and scrubbed of anything resembling acoustics." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine also gave the album a positive review, commenting that "Grande is swaggering with [...] confidence" and concluding that the album "embodies every aspect of Ariana Grande, the grand pop star." Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times said, "Thank U, Next flaunts Grande's emotional healing; it's suffused with the joy of discovering that what didn't kill her really did make her stronger."

Michael Cragg of The Guardian commented that Thank U, Next seems to be a "result of a burst of creativity and a prevailing mood", yet criticized "7 Rings" as a "braggadocious, ice-cold low point" of the album. He concluded positively, stating that Grande is a "pop star [...] finally working out who they are and what they want to say" and compared the album to Rihanna's Anti. Helen Brown from The Independent stated that that Grande is "embracing her inner mean girl (on the sexy "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored") [and] owning her flaws and contradictions" on tracks such as "Needy" and "NASA", yet concluding that the album lacks enough "vocal grit". Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine awarded the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, believing that the album "is easily Grande's most sonically consistent effort to date". He criticized that "some of the [...] tracks tend to blur together", but ultimately concluded in saying that Grande's "refusal to fake a smile that proves to be what makes her so damn likeable." It is also believed that Grande's song "Ghostin'" is written about her late ex-boyfriend Mac Miller. She tweeted the meaning of "Ghostin'" where she said that "feeling badly for the person you're with bc you love somebody else. feeling badly bc he can tell he can't compare.... and how i should be ghosting him."

Track listing
Notes
 * $undefined$ signifies a main and vocal producer
 * $undefined$ signifies an additional producer
 * $undefined$ signifies a vocal producer
 * $undefined$ signifies a remixer
 * All track titles are stylized in all lowercase, except "NASA".

Sample credits
 * "Fake Smile" contains a sample of "After Laughter (Comes Tears)", performed by Wendy Rene.
 * "Ghostin" contains a sample of "2009", performed by Mac Miller.
 * "7 Rings" channels the melody of "My Favorite Things" by Rodgers and Hammerstein and interpolates The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Gimme the Loot" in the bridge.
 * "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" contains a sample of "It Makes Me Ill" performed by NSYNC.

Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.

Performance

 * Ariana Grande – primary artist
 * Victoria Monét – background vocals (tracks 2–3, 7–8, 10–11)
 * Tayla Parx – background vocals (tracks 2–3, 7, 10)
 * Marjorie Grande – background vocals (track 4)
 * Doug Middlebrook – background vocals (track 9)
 * Shangela Laquifa Wadley – uncredited vocals (track 3)

Instrumentation

 * Happy Perez – guitar (tracks 1, 5, 9), keyboards (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Pop Wansel – keyboards (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Peter Lee Johnson – strings (track 2)
 * Wojtek Bylund – alto saxophone (track 4)
 * Ilya Salmanzadeh – bass (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12), drums (tracks 4, 6, 12), guitar (tracks 4, 6, 8), keyboards (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12), string arrangement (track 6)
 * Janne Bjerger – trumpet (track 4)
 * Max Martin – bass (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12), drums (tracks 4, 6, 12), guitar (tracks 4, 6, 8), keyboards (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12), string arrangement (track 6)
 * Mattias Bylund – horns arrangement (track 4), strings (tracks 6, 8), string arrangement (track 6), violin (track 6)
 * Magnus Johannson – trumpet (track 4)
 * Peter Noos Johannson – trombone (track 4)
 * Tomas Johannson – tenor saxophone (track 4)
 * JProof – keyboards (tracks 5, 9)
 * David Bukovinszky – cello (tracks 6, 8)
 * Alexander West – guitar (track 7)
 * Larrance Dopson – guitar (track 7)
 * Mattias Johannson – violin (track 8)

Production

 * Ariana Grande – executive production, vocal production (all tracks)
 * Scooter Braun – executive production
 * Happy Perez – production (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Pop Wansel – production (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Tommy Brown – production (tracks 2–3, 7, 10–11)
 * Charles Anderson – production (tracks 3, 10–11)
 * Max Martin – production (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12), vocal production (track 8)
 * Ilya Salmanzadeh – production (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12), vocal production (track 8)
 * Brian Baptiste – production (track 7)
 * Michael Foster – production (tracks 10–11)
 * Victoria Monét – vocal production (tracks 2–3, 7–8, 10–11)
 * Tayla Parx – vocal production (tracks 2, 7)
 * Brittany Chi Coney – additional production (track 9)
 * Denisia Andrews – additional production (track 9)
 * Andrew Luftman – production coordination (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Sarah Shelton – production coordination (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Zvi Edelman – production coordination (tracks 1, 5, 9)

Technical

 * Happy Perez – programming (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Pop Wansel – programming (tracks 1, 5, 9)
 * Tommy Brown – programming (tracks 2–3, 10)
 * Charles Anderson – programming (tracks 3, 10)
 * Ilya Salmanzadeh – programming (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12)
 * Max Martin – programming (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12)
 * Michael Foster – programming (track 10)
 * John Hanes – mixing (tracks 1–3, 10), mixing assistance (tracks 4–9, 11–12)
 * Serban Ghenea – mixing (all tracks)
 * Billy Hickey – engineering (tracks 2, 3, 7, 10, 11)
 * Sam Holland – engineering (tracks 6, 8)
 * Brendan Morawski – recording (track 1), engineering (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7–11)
 * Joe Gallagher – recording (track 1), engineering (tracks 5, 9)
 * Sean Klein – recording assistance (tracks 1–3, 5, 7–8, 10, 11), remix engineering assistance (track 9)
 * Jeremy Lertola – recording assistance (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12)
 * Cory Bice – recording assistance (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12)