Before she was a pop sensation, Ariana Grande made her Broadway debut in "13: The Musical." She was one of thirteen kids in the Broadway show that ran for only a few short months in 2008. The show has since been turned into a movie musical made for Netflix – which begins streaming Aug. 12.

"She was as gifted a singer at 14 years old as she is now," the musical’s composer and three-time Tony Award winner, Jason Robert Brown tells GRAMMY.com. Brown believes Grande was always destined to be a star, but he does feel like he’s been part of the talent development for the many teenagers who’ve starred in the show over the years. "They learn something about how they want to perform from it and it directs them forward," he explains.

The Netflix adaptation stars Eli Golden, as Evan, a Jewish 12-year-old who moves to a small, non-Jewish town in Indiana right as he’s about to become a Bar Mitzvah. He tries to make new friends so they will all come to his party. Debra Messing plays his mother and the pair share a poignant duet called "It Would Be Funny," one of three new songs Brown wrote for the film.

It’s been a busy year for Brown whose new musical, "Mr. Saturday Night" (based on the 1992 Billy Crystal movie of the same name), opened on Broadway also starring Billy Crystal. He is preparing for the highly anticipated New York City production of his musical "Parade" (in which he won a 1999 Tony Award for Best Score) starring Ben Platt ("Dear Evan Hansen") and Micaela Diamond ("The Cher Show"). He’s also written the music for "The Last Five Years" and "Honeymoon in Vegas."

GRAMMY.com spoke with Jason Robert Brown all about bringing 13 to Netflix, writing a new song for the film inspired by Grease and one of his favorite memories of working with Ariana Grande that you can hear on the cast album.

What was it like revisiting the show? 

I haven't stopped revisiting the show since [book writer Robert Horn and I] wrote it. We did it originally at the Paper Mill [Playhouse in New Jersey] in 2006. Then we did it at Goodspeed [in Connecticut] in 2007. We did it on Broadway in 2008. I did a new version in London in which I directed. That has been the version that has been out in the world since.

In all of that time, Robert Horn and I were always working on what's a possible idea for how this could be a movie. We had written several versions of a screenplay before Netflix even came to us. 13 was always a show that we always knew we were gonna have to keep coming back to.

You always have to keep your eye on anything that's a contemporary story so it doesn't get dated. There was a lot in the original draft that was of its moment, but does not feel of its moment anymore. Teenagers are different than they were in 2008. It's always fun to come back to the show, because I love these characters and I love this material. But it's always a challenge to find out how to make it say what it has to say in slightly different ways.

Tell me about writing three new songs and why you wrote them. 

I wrote new songs for a bunch of different reasons. The story of the movie is different than the story of the [Broadway] show. There were some things that happened in the show that had all these great songs attached to them. When we got to [working on] the movie, those songs don't make any sense anymore.

So when we lost some of those songs, we had to come up with new ones. When Evan first gets to school, we had an opportunity to introduce the kids in the town in a much better way. I got to write this really great song for Brett (the head of the football team played by JD McCrary,) and for Kendra (the head cheerleader played by Lindsey Blackwell), called "I've Been Waiting" and it talks about their dilemma which is how they've been waiting all summer to get together.

It reminded me of "Summer Nights" from Grease. 

That was certainly a model in a lot of ways. "Summer Nights" is the two lead characters talking about what they've done all summer to their respective crowds. Without us doing it intentionally, that was exactly the same position that this song was going to be in. Why run away from it?

It was also an opportunity to say, alright, what is the music that these kids sing? The music I wrote for them to sing in 2008 sounded like 2008 music. I thought let's get closer to what they sing now. I got to write what my daughter calls a "bop." When I was working on the movie, [my daughters were] 15 and 11. I showed them everything that was new and got their reactions. I didn't always listen to them, but I did my best to watch their eyes and see how they responded to material.

How did you get Debra Messing, who plays Evan’s mother, to sing in the movie? 

The show on Broadway had no adults in it. For the movie, that wouldn't make any sense. So we put in the parents: Evan’s mother, his father and his grandmother. His mother is played by Debra Messing who, on top of being an extraordinary comedian, is a great singer. The whole point of having Debra Messing in the movie is she should have a moment. So I got to write a song for her and her son to sing. I don't think Debra would have been interested in doing the movie musical if she didn't get to sing.

Getting her to sing the song was the easy part. It was really this great give and take about her ideas about being a mother. [In real life] she is a divorced mom [like in the movie] with kids who are almost exactly Evan’s age. So she had a lot to say about what that experience was. Obviously all the other songs are just kids singing. It was just nice to have a second where the grown up had a little perspective to offer.

What stood out to you about Eli Golden, who plays Evan? 

For me, it was very important that the Jewish characters be played by Jewish actors. There’s an idea that anyone can play Jewish – it's not a race. I don't think that's true. I've seen a lot of Jewish characters played in ways that feel inauthentic. So much of the movie depends on the fact that there is one Jewish kid in the middle of a town of non-Jewish kids. It is important he feels like an outsider and like he doesn't entirely belong.

To have Debra, Rhea Perlman (Evan’s grandmother), Peter Hermann (Evan’s dad), Josh Peck (Evan’s Rabbi), and Eli all be Jewish centers their experience in a very specific way. I wanted to make sure that the Jewish experience was not being portrayed in a way where it was played for laughs. What was wonderful about Eli is he is a New York Jewish kid and he brings that energy to it. At the same time, there's something that is so charming and approachable about him.

What do you remember about Ariana Grande’s audition and casting her in the show? 

She sang Mariah Carey. She opened her mouth and we said "we have cast her." She was always an extraordinarily talented creature. So many of those kids in that original company were. Not only did Ariana bring it, but it happened so many times during the casting of this movie.

I don't take too much credit for Ariana because she was going to be famous no matter what happened. I do feel like we got to give her this little showcase where the world got to see her for the first time.

Any favorite memories from working on the music with her back then in 2008? 

If you listen to the opening number in the original cast album there are a series of four solo riffs that each of the kids do at the end of the song. The kids made those up themselves. And the way that it all worked was that I took all 13 kids in the company around the piano and I just kept playing those four measures of music over and over again. I would point to them and I would say sing your riff.

I got to Ariana and she sang this sort of perfect Whitney Houston riff right at the end of the song. It was amazing. What I remember specifically as she sang it was everybody just started laughing because we were all like well we can stop doing this now. We know what one of the riffs is going to be.

Do you stay in touch? I know you did a concert in 2020 with her on Zoom, which I watched. But does she consult with you at all?

She doesn't need to consult with me. We're friends. So every once in a while we text each other and we check in. We usually are talking about our experience doing 13. She's still very close with Liz Gillies, Aaron Simon Gross and Graham Phillips. There are times where, at midnight, suddenly I'll get a group text from all four of them because they're all hanging out together in Los Angeles singing all the songs from the show. That happens much more often than you would imagine.

Now you have a new generation of teens who could become the next Ariana Grande.

What I'm really excited about is that this has the opportunity to inspire this whole other generation of kids. The show was on Broadway 14 years ago; it certainly didn't change the world when it opened. I’m so honored and thrilled that all these years later, it's still making a mark on this generation. It's sort of so weird, but it's really exciting. And I think the movie is designed so well to talk to kids of this generation.

You have "Mr. Saturday Night" on Broadway right now and soon "Parade" at New York City Center.

The real thrill is that Ben Platt really wanted to do it. He has always loved the show and he really wanted to find a way to do the part. For several years now, he's been working with [director] Michael Arden trying to figure out a way to get it up on stage. It's this fantastic opportunity to revisit that piece which I love so much.

One of the tricks of "Parade" is that it's a big show and it was designed to be big. So, it's probably too expensive to do a traditional Broadway revival. The great thing about doing it at City Center is we can do it with the full cast and the full orchestra and really give it its due. It's a piece that means so much to me and to my family. It means so much to be able to remember [its director] Hal [Prince] and memorialize the work that we all did together.

Everyone on Twitter wants to see this back on Broadway so everyone is hoping it transfers like "Into The Woods" just did.

That would be totally fine by me.

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Ludwig Göransson's captivating composition for Oppenheimer has triumphed in the Best Original Score category at the 2024 Oscars.

Göransson's victory represents his exceptional talent and innovative approach to film scoring, as one of the youngest composers to ever receive the Best Original Score Oscar. It marks his second win in the category — he took home his first Oscar in 2019 for Black Panther. Göransson's work on Oppenheimer also won at the 2024 GRAMMYs for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television).

Göransson's work stood out among the competition, going up against the scores of American Fiction, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things. His ability to convey deep emotional narratives and complex historical contexts through his scores has established him as one of the most innovative and sought-after composers in Hollywood.

Göransson's composition for Oppenheimer serves as the heartbeat of the movie, underpinning the film's exploration of the moral complexities and monumental impact of J. Robert Oppenheimer's work on the atomic bomb. Through his music, Göransson invites audiences into the internal and external conflicts faced by the "father of the atomic bomb," providing a sonic backdrop that is as thought-provoking as it is visceral.

Read more: Watch: Ludwig Göransson Discusses His GRAMMY Win For 'Oppenheimer' At The 2024 GRAMMYs 

The award was presented by fellow GRAMMY winners, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who will star together in the Wizard of Oz big screen adaptation of the musical Wicked as Glinda and Elphaba respectively, premiering on the silver screen later this year. Speaking to the power of music to leave an indelible mark on the viewer through film, Grande said, "a great film score can leave a handprint on our hearts forever. It can ignite wonder and astonishment, make us feel sadness and longing and even transport us to new worlds." 

Göransson achieved just that. In his acceptance speech, Göransson thanked his colleagues,  and stars of the film for contributions to his distinctive vision. "Christopher Nolan, it was your idea to use a violin in the score and it allowed me to work and collaborate with my wonderful wife and acclaimed violinist, Serena Göransson," he said.

Göransson ended his speech by acknowledging his parents, "Thank you for giving me guitars and drum machines and not buying me video games." 

2024 Oscars: Billie Eilish And FINNEAS Perform A Heartrending Version Of "What Was I Made For?" From The 'Barbie' Soundtrack

Sibling duo Billie Eilish and FINNEAS are taking home more awards "What Was I Made For" [From The Motion Picture *Barbie*], this time at the 2024 Oscars, winning the prestigious Best Original Song award for their heartfelt ballad.

Once again, they've proven their unparalleled talent crosses effortlessly between the realms of music and film. Billie Eilish and Finneas won their first Oscar in 2022 for Best Original Song with "No Time to Die," the theme for the James Bond film of the same name.

Fittingly, the award was presented by two GRAMMY-winning musical performers, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who star as Glinda and Elphaba in the Wizard of Oz big screen adaptation of the musical Wicked, premiering on the silver screen later this year. 

Eilish, who admitted to having a nightmare the night before receiving the award, burst into laughs before thanking the Academy and Barbie director Greta Gerwig, "Thank you to Greta, where did you go? I love you. Thank you for this. I'm so grateful for this song and this movie and the way that it made me feel."

The pair contended for the award against a diverse group of nominees: Diane Warren with "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot," Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt for "I'm Just Ken" also from Barbie, Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson with "It Never Went Away" from American Symphony, and Scott George for "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" from Killers of the Flower Moon.

Ahead of the win, Eilish and O'Connell gave a stirring paired back performance that highlighted their power as a pair.

Read more: 2024 Oscars: Billie Eilish And FINNEAS Perform A Heartrending Version Of "What Was I Made For?" From The 'Barbie' Soundtrack

"What Was I Made For?" captivated audiences and critics alike with its poignant lyrics and emotive composition, underscoring the siblings' ability to tap into universal feelings of identity and purpose.

This Oscar win is a significant milestone for both artists, reinforcing their status as multifaceted talents capable of storytelling that resonates across different mediums. At the 2024 GRAMMYs, they had already made waves with the same song, winning Song Of The Year and Best Song Written For Visual Media.

Eilish and Finneas's journey from the music studios to the glitz of the Oscar stage is a testament to their hard work, creativity, and the deep connection they share as siblings. Their ability to collaborate and push the boundaries of music, now recognized by both the Recording Academy and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sets a high bar for artists striving to make their mark across multiple industries.

Eilish and FINNEAS are not just a powerful duo in music but also formidable talents in film music composition. Their Oscar victory tonight is not just a win for them but a win for the incredible synergy between music and storytelling in cinema.

2024 Oscars: Watch Ryan Gosling And Mark Ronson Perform A Soaring, Hilarious Version Of "I'm Just Ken" From The 'Barbie' Soundtrack

Ariana Grande's seventh album, eternal sunshine, begins with a single question: "How can I tell if I'm in the right relationship?"

The superstar has always been known for wearing her heart on her sleeve in her music — just look to 2018's Sweetener and especially 2019's thank you, next for a catalog of examples — and eternal sunshine is a mature evolution of that same level of transparency.

Grande's life has turned upside down since she released 2020's woozy, lovestruck Positions. She divorced husband Dalton Gomez after two years of marriage, and seemed to quickly move on to a new relationship with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater. The huge changes created a firestorm of drama in the tabloids and across social media with fans left confused about timelines and even accusations of downright infidelity leveled against the singer.

Though she stayed largely quiet at the time, when Grande released "yes, and?" as her first new single in three years, the pop star was standing in her truth. "Now I'm so done with caring/ What you think, no, I won't hide/ Underneath your own projections/ Or change my most authentic life," she sings on the second verse.

While cleverly positioning the project as a concept album inspired by the 2004 drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Grande uses the rest of eternal sunshine to add to the unapologetic statements of "yes, and?", affirming through the music that there's much more to her story than tabloid headlines and internet rumors. 

In a multitude of ways, eternal sunshine showcases immense growth on Grande's part as a pop star, musician, and songwriter — but most of all, as a human being. Below, take a look at five takeaways from Ari's most self-actualized album to date.

She's Learned That Ignorance Isn't Bliss

Grande chose not to release a second single ahead of the album's March 8 unveiling, telling fans she wanted them to experience eternal sunshine in its entirety as a full body of work. Instead, she dropped second single "we can't be friends (wait for your love)" and its accompanying music video in tandem with the LP's release, and the ethereal banger perfectly encapsulates the themes of love lost — and the pain of moving on — that tie eternal sunshine to its cinematic source material starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet.

In the "we can't be friends" video, Grande elects to have her memories of a past relationship erased, much like Joel and Clementine in the beloved Oscar winner. "I don't wanna tiptoe, but I don't want to hide/ But I don't wanna feed this monstrous fire/ Just wanna let this story die/ And I'll be alright," she intones on the opening verse. 

However, by video's end, she, too, learns that it's better to live with the memories (and boundaries!) than to forget the love ever existed. 

Grande explores the same theme even more acutely on the album's title track, directly referencing the plot of the film as she tries "to wipe my mind/ Just so I feel less insane." (Though unlike Joel and Clementine's story, the pop star and her ex have both clearly moved on, as evidenced by the eyebrow-raising refrain: "Hope you feel alright when you're in her/ I found a good boy and he's on my side/ You're just my eternal sunshine, sunshine.")

Glinda The Good Witch Has Transformed Her

In numerous interviews ahead of the album's release, Grande spoke at length about the ways playing Glinda in the upcoming Wicked movies impacted her internally, recentered her priorities and healed her relationship with music. She had been adamant about not releasing new music while spending all her energy in the Good Witch of the North's magic bubble, but the impact the character's assured and confident nature had on her is evident throughout the entire body of work.

"Something that Glinda has is this very sure sense of self," Grande said in late February on The Zach Sang Show. "And she's not very apologetic. She's very good, she's very kind, but she's very certain. She takes up a lot of space unapologetically. And I think I, maybe before knowing Glinda and spending a lot of time with her, would cram myself into tiny little spaces and be kind of apologetic about what I come with and who I am." 

That same unapologetic kindness runs through virtually every song on the album, from the self-assured confidence of "yes, and?" to the disco-tinged heartbreak fantasia of "bye."

She's Just Fine Being Labeled The Villain

Being a concept album, eternal sunshine allows Grande to inhabit new roles and toy with perceptions of her pop star persona, and nowhere is that more evident than on "true story" and "the boy is mine," a one-two punch filled with '90s-inflected R&B and lyrical sass.

"I'll play the bad girl if you need me to…and I'll be good in it too," she pronounces on the former, clapping back at the media narrative swirling around the timeline of her split and new relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater. On the latter, as its title suggests, Grande taps into the feisty vibe of Brandy and Monica's 1998 smash while making it crystal clear she isn't competing with anyone for her new love's affections. 

Taken together, the two tracks affirm that Ari really is feeling more resolute in her truth than ever — regardless of what the masses have to say or what other narratives may be running rampant. 

She Remains A Master Of Vocal Production

Whether she's layering harmonies over a melody line or vocal arranging an entire bridge on the fly, the superstar's mastery over her instrument only continues to grow with each new album — evolving from a singer with a once-in-a-generation voice into a powerhouse who can ably execute her own vision from behind the mic.

eternal sunshine proves that point again and again, from the sumptuous extended whistle tone intro on "yes, and?" and the transcendence of the floating harmonies on "don't wanna break up again" to the ways she punctuates her dreamy, staccato vocal delivery on "i wish i hated you."

She Knows Love Is "Imperfect"

After making peace with the end of her marriage, Grande spends the tail end of eternal sunshine giving listeners valuable insight into where her head is at these days, relationship with Slater included. She addresses the unexpected start to this new love story head-on in the off-kilter melody of "imperfect for you" as she coos, "My love, they don't understand/ But I'll hold your heart in the box here beside me/ How could we know we'd arrange all the cosmos?/ We crashed and we burned/ Now I just can't go where you don't go."

And by the album's end, she finally finds the answer she's been searching for since the first track — in a nugget of wisdom from her beloved Nonna, who serves as the only guest credited on the album's 13-song tracklist. "Never go to bed without kissin' goodnight, it's the worst thing to do, don't ever, ever do that," the Italian matriarch advises. "And if you can't and if you don't feel comfortable doing it, you're in the wrong place, get out."

Not only does Nonna's advice wrap eternal sunshine up in a bow, it also speaks to the hard-earned lessons Ari has learned over the past few years — but also that she's come out on the other side stronger, wiser and more unapologetic than ever.

Ariana Grande's Musical Growth In 15 Tracks, From "The Way" To "Positions"

From commanding stages to blasting through stereos, countless women have globally graced the music industry with their creativity. And though they've long been underrepresented, tides are changing: in just the last few years, female musicians have been smashing records left and right, conquering top song and album charts and selling sold-out massive tours.

This year, Women's History Month follows a particularly historic 66th GRAMMY Awards, which reflected the upward swing of female musicians dominating music across the board. Along with spearheading the majority of the ceremony's performances, women scored bigtime in the General Field awards — with wins including Best New Artist, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year.

Female empowerment anthems, in particular, took home major GRAMMY gold. Miley Cyrus' "Flowers" took home two awards, while Victoria Monét was crowned Best New Artist thanks to the success of her album Jaguar II and its hit single "On My Mama." As those two songs alone indicate, female empowerment takes many different shapes in music — whether it's moving on from a relationship by celebrating self-love or rediscovering identity through motherhood.

The recent successes of women in music is a testament to the trailblazing artists who have made space for themselves in a male-dominated industry — from the liberating female jazz revolution of the '20s to the riot grrl movement of the '90s. Across genres and decades, the classic female empowerment anthem has strikingly metamorphosed into diverse forms of defiance, confidence and resilience.

No matter how Women's History Month is celebrated, it's about women expressing themselves, wholeheartedly and artistically, and having the arena to do so. And in the month of March and beyond, women in the music industry deserve to be recognized not only for their talent, but ambition and perseverance — whether they're working behind the stage or front-and-center behind the mic.

From Aretha Franklin's "RESPECT" to Beyoncé's "Run the World (Girls)," there's no shortage of female empowerment anthems to celebrate women's accomplishments in the music industry. Listen to GRAMMY.com's 2024 Women's History Month playlist on streaming services below.

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