Ariana Grande’s grandmother – Nonna, formally Marjorie Grande – makes history on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated March 23), as “Ordinary Things” debuts at No. 55.
With the arrival of the song (from Grande’s album Eternal Sunshine, which launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200), Nonna, 98, becomes the senior-most artist ever to have appeared on the Hot 100, dating to the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, start.
Nonna, billed as a featured artist on “Ordinary Things,” claims the record from the late Fred Stobaugh, who was 96 when “Oh Sweet Lorraine,” billed as by Green Shoe Studio featuring Jacob Colgan (the song’s vocalist) and Stobaugh (its writer), spent a week on the Hot 100 dated Sept. 14, 2013, at No. 42.
Late legend Tony Bennett now ranks third among acts with the most life experience on the Hot 100. Bennett was 85 when “Body and Soul,” with Amy Winehouse, logged a week on the list, at No. 87, dated Oct. 1, 2011. Bennett passed the late George Burns, who was 84 when, aptly per the subject matter, “I Wish I Was Eighteen Again” wrapped its chart run the week of March 22, 1980.
“Ordinary Things” closes with a clip of Nonna imparting advice, as she reflects on her late husband, Frank. “Never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight,” Nonna – also credited as a co-writer of the song – shares. “That’s the worst thing to do; don’t ever, ever do that. And if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place – get out.”
“I always record my Nonna, because you never know what she’s going to say,” Grande told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe March 7. “I had this 30-minute voice note of her and her friend Shirley talking.”
Following the soundbite in the song, Grande laughs, closing the track, and Eternal Sunshine. She explained to Lowe of its inclusion, “I think it’s a little bit of, ‘Wow, our loved ones, our friends and our family have the ability to instantly just sort of soothe and calm and simplify things that are so complicated and heavy at times.’”
Grande’s grandmother has also been heard, although not credited with an artist billing, on “Daydreamin’,” from Grande’s 2013 debut album Yours Truly, and “Bloodline,” from 2019’s Thank U, Next. The latter song hit No. 22 on the Hot 100.
Eternal Sunshine, released on Republic Records, begins with 227,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its first week (March 8-14), according to Luminate – the largest frame for any set so far in 2024.
“Ordinary Things” enters the Hot 100 with 8.8 million official streams in its first frame.
As previously reported, the new album’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” opens atop the Hot 100, marking Grande’s ninth No. 1. Lead single “Yes, And?” premiered at the summit in January.
Meanwhile, as Nonna makes her unprecedented entrance on the Hot 100, who is the youngest artist ever to reach the chart? While The Five Stairsteps, “a quintet of siblings, were joined by a sixth Stairstep, their 18-month-old brother Cubie, for several singles, beginning with ‘Something’s Missing’ in 1967,” Billboard reported in 1993, the youngest soloist remains Jordy, who was 5 years old when “Dur Dur D’être Bébé! (It’s Tough To Be a Baby)” first reached the survey, on its way to a No. 58 peak, dated June 19, 1993.
Ariana Grande wouldn’t remember Jordy’s debut. She made her own arrival when she was born one week later, on June 26, 1993.
