Ariana Grande’s 98-year-old grandmother has officially made music history.
Marjorie Grande, whose famous granddaughter lovingly calls her “Nonna” in honor of their Italian descent, became the oldest artist to ever chart on the Billboard Hot 100 after being featured on Ariana Grande’s “Ordinary Things” on her new album, “Eternal Sunshine.”
The singer recently told Zane Lowe for an Apple Music interview how her grandmother ended up on “Eternal Sunshine.” She said she was desperately trying to find a closer for the album and found it in the voice notes of her phone.
“I always record my Nonna when I’m with her, because you never know what she’s going to say, and she’s the most hilarious person in the world,” Ariana Grande said. “I had this 30-minute voice note of her and her friend, Shirley, talking, and it was just right smack in the middle.”
“And I said, ’Oh my God, that’s the answer.”
The Grammy winner had recorded her grandma talking about her late husband, Frank, in a dulcet tone and used that for “Ordinary Things.”
“And when he’d come home and I’d see him … it was like God almighty arrived,” Marjorie Grande can be heard saying on the track. “It was like seeing daylight.”
“I mean, I could’ve packed up and left a million times, you know? It’s not that we never fought,” she added. “You can overcome that, you know? It’s very easy. And as I told her, never go to bed without kissing goodnight. It’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that. And if you can’t … you’re in the wrong place. Get out.”
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Ariana Grande didn’t end the album there, however, closing the final song with a few seconds of her own laughter. When asked about that choice — and what that laugh means to her — she told Lowe there’s something about the levity only a grandmother can deliver.
“I mean, 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,’” the artist said. “They just have that instant ability sometimes.”
“Ordinary Things” hit No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it dropped on streamers, while “Eternal Sunshine” launched at No. 1.
Marjorie Grande reportedly dethroned the late Fred Stobaugh, who was 96 when his hit, “Oh Sweet Lorraine,” got to No. 42 on the Hot 100 in 2013.
She can also be heard on Ariana Grande’s 2013 and 2019 songs, “Daydreamin’” and “Bloodline,” respectively, proving that it’s never too late to start a music career — provided your granddaughter is a millennial pop star.