"Ghostin" is a song by American singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

. It is the eighth track on her fifth studio album '' Thank U, Next'', which was released on February 8, 2019. The song was written by Grande, Victoria Monét,

Tayla Parx Taylor is a unisex given name mainly in use in English-speaking countries, including England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The name Taylor also has been well used for characters on American and now some Australi ...

Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian (Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', for ...

and its producers Max Martin and

Ilya Salmanzadeh Ilya Salmanzadeh (; born 19 September 1986 in Stockholm), known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish-Persian songwriter, producer and singer. He rose to prominence outside of Sweden after co-writing and producing Ariana Grande's " Problem" and Je ...

. "Ghostin" peaked at number 25 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was a top 40 entry in Australia, Canada, Lithuania, Portugal, and Slovakia.

Background and release

"Ghostin" was written by

, Victoria Monét,

, and producers Max Martin and

, for Grande's fifth studio album '' Thank U, Next'' (2019). Grande's vocals were recorded at

Jungle City Studios Jungle City Studios is a recording studio owned and operated by Ann Mincieli, Alicia Keys's longtime engineer and studio coordinator. Located in Chelsea, Manhattan, it was designed by John Storyk of Walters-Storyk Design Group. Recordings at Ju ...

in New York City. According to Grande, it was the first song written for the album and took the longest to write: "We had to take ittlebreaks from 'Ghostin'. That was the first hook done and then we came back and did the verses like two weeks later... everything else we did in like an hour." She also stated that it was the hardest song to write for the album, particularly the second verse. After completing the song, Grande did not want to release it and begged her manager Scooter Braun to remove it from the album, but he convinced her to keep it. "Ghostin" was released with the album on February 8, 2019, by

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. Not comfortable enough to perform the song, Grande excluded it from the set list of her Sweetener World Tour.

Composition

Ghostin is an emotional synths and strings

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and art pop ballad. When asked what the song is about in January 2019, Grande responded: "Feeling badly for the person you're with ecauseyou love somebody else. Feeling badly ecausehe can tell he can't compare... and how I should be ghosting him.". The song is thought to be about Grande grieving for her ex-boyfriend

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

, who died from a

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

in September 2018, while she was with her then-fiancé Pete Davidson. In a February 2019 interview, co-writer

said: "The song speaks for itself in terms of what it’s about. We were with her for a week in New York witnessing that, witnessing her feelings on that."

Critical reception

The song received unanimous and universal acclaim, with praise directed towards the emotionally honest songwriting, the production and Grande's vocal performance. Michael Cragg of '' The Guardian'' called the song an "emotional centrepiece", "gorgeous" and praised Martin's "production that seems to levitate on a pillow-soft blend of eerie backwards synths and big syrupy strings". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Andrew Unterberger described the song as "the album's barest, most emotional track ..one that, appropriately, lingers with you well after it's gone." In 2021, '' The Guardian'' ranked the song number five on their list of the 20 greatest Ariana Grande songs, and in 2022, '' Rolling Stone'' ranked the song number three on their list of the 50 greatest Ariana Grande songs.

Commercial performance

The song debuted on the February 23, 2019 issue of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 25 in the United States, becoming Grande's 22nd top thirty entry and one of her highest-charting non-singles on the chart to date.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

– lead vocals, songwriting, vocal production * Victoria Monét – background vocals, songwriting, vocal production *

– songwriting *

– songwriting * Max Martin – songwriting, production, vocal production, bass, guitar, keyboards, programming *

– songwriting, production, vocal production, bass, guitar, keyboards, programming * Serban Ghenea – mixing * John Hanes – mixing assistant * David Bukovinszky – cello * Mattias Bylund – strings * Mattias Johansson – violin * Brendan Morawski – engineering * Sam Holland – engineering * Cory Bice – engineering assistant * Jeremy Lertola – engineering assistant * Sean Klein – engineering assistant

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 2019 songs 2010s ballads Ariana Grande songs Songs written by Ariana Grande Songs written by Tayla Parx Songs inspired by deaths Songs written by Victoria Monét Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Ilya Salmanzadeh Breakup songs