Within a decade Ariana Grande locked in three runs on Saturday Night Live. In 2014, Ariana Grande made her SNL debut as a musical guest. Set to visit a third time as a performer on March 9, 2024, it was 2016 when Grande had her biggest appearance on Saturday Night Live as host and musical guest, around the release of her third album Dangerous Woman.
Grande’s second appearance on SNL left behind a highlight reel of skits and performances that people are still talking about, from a feminist musical mishap to perfect imitations of Celine Dion, Rihanna, and more.
Videos by American Songwriter
‘Dangerous Woman’
As SNL host and musical guest on March 6, 2016, Grande debuted two new songs from her then-upcoming album Dangerous Woman— “Dangerous Woman” and “Be Alright.”
Dangerous Woman went to No. 2 on the Billboard 200, while “Dangerous Woman” hit the Top 10 of the Hot 100 chart at No. 8, and the single “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, went to No. 4.
“This is Not a Feminist Song”
Throughout the night, one of the funnier skits featuring Grande was the pre-taped music video for the anthemic “This Is Not A Feminist Song.” Along with the women of SNL—Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, Sasheer Zamata, Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, along with an appearance by male castmate Beck Bennett—Grande sang through the chorus:
This is not a feminist song
So technically, it can’t be wrong
This is not a feminist song
I feel like we’ve been singing so long
Our ancestors, they fought for us
So they deserve a song
But this is not that song, so move along
In the song, the women realize how difficult it is to write feminist lyrics, and Grande sings So instead of writing lyrics, here’s us running in the sand, and here’s a bunch of lens flares, and an old woman’s hands. Shot on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, the video also features footage of female icons Madeleine Albright, Maya Angelou, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Malala Yousafzai.
‘Grande’ Impressionist
In another skit, Grande works as an assistant named Chloe at Tidal Music Streaming. When the streaming service loses power and is in danger of losing some specific streams, Chloe comes to the rescue bringing some channels back up and showing off her powerhouse impersonations of everyone from Britney Spears with “…Baby One More Time,” Whitney Houston with “I Will Always Love You,” and more.
“Chloe, the future of Tidal is in your hands,” says the company boss played by Keenan Thompson. Grande sheepishly responds “But I’m shy.” He says “People need their Britney Spears.”
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After singing Spears, Tidal is about to lose another stream, so Chloe sings Shakira‘s 2001 hit “Whenever, Wherever” and Rihanna’s “Work” before trying to save the ’90s streaming channel with Dion’s 1996 hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me.”
“C’mon take us home,” said Thompson, before Grande saved the Houston stream with a powerhouse performance of the Bodyguard classic.
Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
