thank u, next is Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album, which arrives just 5 months and 22 days after the release of her fourth studio album, Sweetener. Coincidentally, 5/22 was the date in which the Manchester arena bombing occurred. The album revolves around its lead single and titular track, which is based on a since-deleted tweet Ariana made in response to a joke Pete Davidson made on the two’s failed engagement in a promotional clip for Saturday Night Live.

This is Ariana’s first album in which she co-wrote every track, and that doesn’t include any features.

On October 4th, 2018, Ari tweeted a snippet, for the song “Needy,” and the following weeks, she continued to tease pieces from the album.

On November 3rd, 2018, the same day she confirmed the album’s name on Twitter, Ariana released the album’s title track, “thank u, next.” The song was released 30 minutes before the airing of Saturday Night Live—in response to where her ex-fiancé Pete Davidson works.

On November 7th, 2018, Ari released the official video for “breathin,” a song from her previous studio album, Sweetener. In the video, she teased this album’s tracklist.

On November 30th, 2018, Ariana released the official video for “thank u, next.” The video interpolated several 2000s movies including Mean Girls and Bring It On and featured cameo appearances from several celebrities like Kris Jenner and Troye Sivan. This video broke two YouTube records, becoming the biggest global-debut and becoming the fastest video to reach 100 million views.

On December 13th, 2018, Ariana annouced on Twitter that there would be thirteen tracks on the album. A day later, she released the album’s first promotional single, “imagine.”

On January 3rd, 2019, “7 rings” was announced on Twitter to be the second single from the album. A week later, she announced the track’s release date along with its cover art. “7 rings” was eventually released on January 18th.

On January 21st, 2019, Ariana held a Q&A on her Twitter. There, she confirmed that the pre-order would be available that Friday, and that she would reveal the cover art and official tracklist. Additionally, she confirmed the album would have no features. A fan then tweeted stating that he hopes the album would be released in February, to which Ari replied “hbd” meaning Happy Birthday. Finally, Ariana confirmed the final release date to be February 8th.

The track list and cover art were eventually revealed on the ‘Sweetener’ Instagram account on January 22nd, 2019.

Two days before the album’s release, on February 5th, 2019, she revealed the third single would be the newly added final track, “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored.”

The day before the album’s release, the full album leaked online.