Yours Truly

“	Fans can expect from my album a lot of great music. It's going to be like pages lifted from my diary. It's very honest and personal. Every song, every lyric, is very true to my life, so my fans will be able to hear a lot of what I was going through in the past year and a half while I was writing the album.	”
–Ariana Grande on her debut album

Yours TrulyStudio album by Ariana Grande
Alternate covers
General information
Artist	Ariana Grande
Release Date	August 30, 2013
Recorded	August 2011 - June 2013
Studio	Various Brandon's Way Recording Studios & The Lair (Los Angeles, California) Rocket Carousel Studios (Culver City, California) London Bridge Studio (Seattle, Washington) The Power House Studios (Yonkers, New York) Armoury Studios (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Genre	R&B, Pop
Length	46:23
Label	Republic
Producer(s)	Babyface, Ariana Grande (exec.), Scott "Scooter" Braun (exec.), Harmony Samuels (also exec.), Credits and personnel
Studio albums chronology
Previous	Ariana Grande
Current	Yours Truly
Next	My Everything
Singles from Yours Truly
1. "The Way" Released: March 25, 2013 2. "Baby I" Released: August 1, 2013 3. "Right There" Released: August 15, 2013
Promotional singles from Yours Truly
1. "Almost Is Never Enough" Released: August 19, 2013

Yours Truly is the debut studio album by Ariana Grande. The album was released on September 3, 2013 (August 30, 2013 in some territories) by Republic Records. The album was originally announced as Daydreamin', but the title was ultimately changed before release. This was the album's title up until at least March 19, 2013.

While primarily a pop and R&B record, Yours Truly incorporates the sounds of 1990s hip-hop and 1950s doo-wop. Grande was inspired by several artists throughout the making of Yours Truly, including Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, and Mariah Carey. The album was crafted over the span of nearly three years with various producers, including Harmony Samuels, Babyface, Patrick "J. Que" Smith, and Victorious co-star, Leon Thomas III of the Rascals, creating a sound that is, in Grande's words, "half-throwback, half-unique."

Yours Truly debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart, making Grande the fifteenth female artist to ever debut at number-one in the United States with their first album. The album achieved critical acclaim upon release and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

On August 25, 2023, the album was re-released in celebration of its ten-year anniversary, including newly recorded Live From London versions of numerous songs from the album, Q&As with Grande, brand new Yours Truly inspired merchandise, a re-issued picture disc vinyl including a new embossed gatefold, and unreleased material uploaded to Grande's YouTube Channel.

Background

2010 - Early 2013: Early Recording as Daydreamin' and Honeymoon Avenue

Taking nearly three years to complete, Yours Truly underwent significant conceptual and sonic changes before its eventual release. Grande started working on music independently while filming Victorious (2009-2013), and formally started production on the album in 2011 after she was signed to Republic Records. By September 10, 2011, Grande already had 20 songs prepared and was going through the process of narrowing it down to thirteen.

The intended lead single for the album, the bubbly, upbeat "Put Your Hearts Up", was released on December 12, 2011. The single was aimed at younger audiences, perhaps intending to cater to Grande's core audience, which at that time was almost entirely made up by children who knew her as Cat Valentine.

Throughout the creation of the album, Grande described it being "inspired by 50s and 60s doo-wop" and revealed that she was gonna release two new singles before the albums release, including the doo-wop/dubstep hybrid "Do You Love Me?" featuring American rapper and record producer, Sky Blu. Throughout the next couple of years, Grande revealed more songs that were intended for her album, including "Voodoo Love", "La Vie En Rose", "Pink Champagne", and "Boyfriend Material". However, most of these songs went unreleased. "Boyfriend Material" was sold to Korean girl group f(x) and was released in 2013 as "여우 같은 내 친구 (No More)". The song's instrumental and main vocal melody are nearly identical to Ariana's version, but feature completely different lyrics.

"Honeymoon Avenue", "Tattooed Heart", and "Daydreamin'", were all created during these early album sessions as well, though they are the only three songs from the original concept to eventually be released with the rest of the album.

Recording

2011

• August 4, 2011 ("Pink Champagne")
• August 15, 2011 ("Voodoo Love")

2012

• February 11, 2012 ("Young Love")
• February 26, 2012 ("First Time (Ariana's and Greyson's Vocal Takes)")
• February 27, 2012 ("First Time (Ariana's and Greyson's Vocal Takes)")
• February 28, 2012 ("First Time (Ariana's and Greyson's Vocal Takes)")
• March 1, 2012 ("First Time")
• March 28, 2012 ("Parachute")
• April 20, 2012 ("Do You Love Me")
• May 1, 2012 ("Pink Champagne")
• June 8, 2012 ("Do You Love Me")
• December 9, 2012 ("Human", "Real", "La Vie En Rose (Final)")

2013

• February 5, 2014 ("The Way")
• April 24, 2013 ("Right There")

*note: as of this time, the exact recording dates for "Almost Is Never Enough", "Baby I", “Better Left Unsaid", "Daydreamin'", Honeymoon Avenue", "Lovin' It", "Piano", "Popular Song", "Tattooed Heart", and "You'll Never Know" are unknown.

Late 2013: Reconceptualizing the Album

In early 2013, Grande met up with her label and expressed dissatisfaction with the direction the album was taking. In several interviews throughout the year, she admitted to completely disliking her debut single, "Put Your Hearts Up", and confessed she wanted to make the type of music she grew up listening to: "random urban pop, just some 90's music."

The album's original "throwback" concept was then reworked, and the album began to take shape as more of a 1990s hip-hop and R&B infused record. Grande described this new sound as "modern motown inspired pop and soul." Grande later listed Amy Winehouse, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, and Madonna as inspirations for the album, amongst others. Although the album was originally announced as Daydreamin', Grande had revealed in an interview with Power 106 that it was renamed to Yours Truly after she decided that the album felt like a love letter she wanted to sign.

"The Way", featuring American rapper Mac Miller, was released as the album's new lead single on March 26, 2013. The song peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming both Grande and Miller's first top 10 song on the chart. An accompanying music video, directed by Jones Crow, features Grande and Miller dancing inside of a room filled with balloons. It was released two days after the single's inital release. The song samples "Still Not a Prayer" (1998) by Big Pun.

The original album cover for Yours Truly depicts Grande, dawning light-pink lingerie, kneeling over a bed of pink and wite roses. She is sitting in front of a coral-pink background, and the words "Yours Truly, Ariana Grande" are written above her in cursive. Grande received backlash from fans over the image, with some claiming it was "too childish" and "ugly". Due to the negative reception, the album cover was swiftly changed to a black and white image of Grande beneath a spotlight.

Scrapped artwork

Singles

• The album's lead single, "The Way", featuring rapper Mac Miller, was released on March 25, 2013.
• The second single, "Baby I", was released on August 1, 2013.
• The third and final single, "Right There", featuring Big Sean, was released on August 15, 2013.

The Way (featuring Mac Miller)

Baby I

Right There (featuring Big Sean)

Promotional singles

• A promotional single, "Almost Is Never Enough", featuring Nathan Sykes of The Wanted, was released on August 19, 2013.

Almost Is Never Enough (featuring Nathan Sykes)

Promotion

To promote "The Way", which premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Grande visited various radio stations, including Y-100 Miami, 93.3 FM, Z100, KIIS-FM and 99-7 Now.

Grande performed "The Way" at several Top 40 radio concerts, including KIIS-FM's Wango Tango concert on May 11, 2013 in Los Angeles, 101.3 KDWB's Star Party concert on May 17, 2013 in Minneapolis, Kiss 108's Kiss Concert 2013 event in Boston, 103.3 AMP Radio's Birthday Bash concert on June 30, 2013 also in Boston, and Mix 93.3's Red White & Boom concert on July 5, 2013 in Kansas City. Her debut televised performance was on May 29, 2013, where she performed "The Way" live with Mac Miller on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Her second televised performance of "The Way" aired on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon during the episode dated June 14, 2013.

On August 7, 2013, Grande revealed the official tracklist via iTunes, and pre-orders for the album were made available.

Critical reception

Yours Truly has received positive reviews from critics, with much praise going to her throwback to 90s R&B music and her vocals, with critics comparing them to Mariah Carey.

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 5 reviews. Nick Cattuci of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A– grade, describing it as "one of the most purely enjoyable albums of the year" and praising Grande's "lithe, Broadway-honed voice." Lucas Villa of Examiner awarded the record four out of five stars, writing, "[Grande's] big and theatrical voice flutters in all the right places on this sugary sweet album of love tunes." Gregory Hicks of The Michigan Daily gave the album a mixed review, saying "most tracks are of quality composition, lyrically and melodically, but beat usage becomes excessive at times."

The Huffington Post gave the album a positive review, calling it one of the year's best album debuts, stating that her album is in "near-perfect form on her debut, mainly thanks to her Mariah Carey-esque vocals and songs written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds." Shamiyah Kelley of the The Daily Reville gave the album a grade "A", stating that "These days, it’s difficult to find a singer that actually has a great voice, but when Grande sings, it takes me back to The Emancipation of Mimi from Mariah Carey’s glory days". She concluded her review by saying "there was a lot of anticipation for this album with high expectations, and Grande delivered." The Honesty Hour were mixed with the album, praising “Tattooed Heart,” “Piano,” and “Honeymoon Avenue” as the standout tracks of the album, but felt Grande needed to train more on her vocals. The site gave the album a 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating "as a whole, Ariana’s debut is very solid. It is cohesive, written with understandability, and is sonically-pleasing."

Tour

Main article: The Listening Sessions

Grande has embarked on her debut tour etitled The Listening Sessions in support of Yours Truly. It started on August 13, 2013, and ended on September 22, 2013. The tour is passed through North America only (Canada and United States).

Yours Truly (Tenth Anniversary Edition)

Yours Truly (Tenth Anniversary Edition) is a reissue of Yours Truly, released on August 25, 2023, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the album's original release. Announced on August 19, 2023, via Grande's Instagram, the digital reissue includes live versions of six songs from the album, and was promoted with videos of those live performances as well as Q&As with Grande, a merchandise capsule collection, and a new picture disk pressing of the standard album. The digital reissue contains the original twelve tracks as well as the Spanglish version of "The Way" featuring Mac Miller previously only found on the LatAm version of the album, followed by the six newly recorded "Live from London" performances.

Yours Truly Tenth Anniversary Celebration Programs

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the album, Grande treated fans to several events set to take place during the week of August 25, 2023. Below is the itinery of events that were held.

• August 25, 2023
  • Yours Truly (Tenth Anniversary Edition) album release.
  • "Honeymoon Avenue" live performance video.
  • "Daydreamin'" live performance video.

• August 26, 2023
  • TikTok Q&A (Part 1), hosted by Grande.
  • Merchandise capsule.

• August 27, 2023
  • "Baby I" live performance video.

• August 28, 2023
  • TikTok Q&A (Part 2), hosted by Grande.
  • YT10 vinyl pre-order begins.

• August 29, 2023
  • "Tattooed Heart" live performance video.
  • "Right There'" live performance video.

• August 30, 2023
  • "The Way" live performance video.
  • Previously unreleased "behind-the-scenes" material from the original Yours Truly release week (2013) shot by Jones Crow is released on YouTube.

Release schedule.

YT10 bts.

YT10 bts.

YT10 bts.

Yours Truly 10th Anniversary album cover.

Trivia

• On August 1, 2013, Grande revealed the original artwork for Yours Truly, which featured her kneeling on a bed of roses in front of a pink background. Due to fan criticism, she quickly unveiled a new cover, which simply featured the singer standing beneath a spotlight.
• The album originally was gonna have 15 songs.f the album on July 19, 2013.
  • The album's original title was Daydreamin'. Another title that was considered was Honeymoon Avenue.
• Grande has writing credits for 5 out of the 12 songs on the album.
• The first song recorded was "Tattooed Heart", and was solely written entirely by Grande (as revealed in the 2023 YT10 Q&A).
• Singles from the album were remixed and put on Grande's first remix album, The Remix.
• This is Grande's only studio album without a title track.
• The album contains samples of many other songs, including:
  • "A Little Bit of Love" by Brenda Russell (The Way).
  • "Rain Dance" by Jeff Lorber Fusion (Right There)
  • "Real Love" by Mary J. Blige (Lovin' It)
  • "Popular" from the Broadway Musical, Wicked (Popular Song)
• On June 18, 2018, Grande revealed on Twitter her top 5 from Yours Truly: "Honeymoon Avenue", "Lovin' It", "Daydreamin'", "You'll Never Know" and "Right There".
• Grande's team had asked rapper Iggy Azalea to feature on a track for the album, but Azalea turned it down. The two later collaborated on "Problem", which was featured on Grande's second album, My Everything (2014) and served as it’s lead single.
• The only three songs that remained from the original version of the album are "Honeymoon Avenue", "Daydreamin'", and "Tattooed Heart." Grande has stated that Honeymoon Avenue was at first very different, with a more upbeat and happier instrumental, juxtaposing the moody lyrical content.
  • The original version of "Honeymoon Avenue" has since become a fan favorite. This has resulted in Grande releasing the song on SoundCloud in 2016 under the title "OG Honeymoon Ave (w/ Dap Kings)" and live performances during the Sweetener Sessions in 2018 and the Sweetener World Tour in 2019.
• "Put Your Hearts Up" was originally intended to be the lead single for the album, but was later replaced by "The Way." This change was due to the song not fitting the rest of the album and Grande feeling that she was playing a character (Cat Valentine) rather than being herself. Over the years, she has expressed her distain for the song, even calling it her worst song.
  • She later addressed her past hatred for the song in a 2020 Zach Sang interview stating: "Everyone thinks that I hate that record, I do not. But I do consider it a transitional part of my life, that's why it never made it to an album or anything." She later went on to clarify how she felt the song was not representative of her as an artist or person.
• Yours Truly is Grande's only album in which every song is at least 3 minutes long.[1]
• The 10th anniversary reissue of the album is the first project Grande released after her separation from her ex-manager, Scooter Braun.
• Upon release, the artwork for the Tenth Anniversary edition of the album had a small, white line spanning the top of the image. After being pointed out by fans, the mistake was fixed.
• Ariana recorded all the songs with the lights off.

Merchandise

Main article: Merchandise - Yours Truly

Physical Releases

Main article: Merchandise - Physical Music § Yours Truly

• Overview
• Details

1LP Black, Gatefold

1LP Clear & White Swirl, Gatefold

1LP Picture Disk, Gatefold, 10th Anniversary

CD, Jewel Case

CD, Jewel Case, Cropped Cover

CD, Jewel Case, Target Exclusive, Poster

CD, JPN Deluxe, Jewel Case, Blue Cover

CD, LatAm Deluxe, Jewel Case, Bonus Remixes

CD + DVD, JPN Deluxe, Jewel Case, Music Videos, Pink Cover

CD booklet

CD cover back

Clear LP disk

Picture disk LP disk

Gallery

Recording

Kesha, her mother Pebe, and Ariana

Jpeg

Tenth Anniversary

Photoshoot

BTS of OG cover

Track listing

Standard Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Honeymoon Avenue"	Antonio Dixon, Dennis "Aganee" Jenkins, Babyface, Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III, Maurice Wade, Roahn Hylton, Thomas Lee Brown, Travis Sayles	Babyface, Dixon, The Rascals	5:39
2.	"Baby I"	Babyface, Dixon, Patrick "J. Que" Smith	Babyface, Dixon	3:17
3.	"Right There" (featuring Big Sean)	Harmony Samuels, H. "Carmen Reece" Culver, J. "Lonny" Bereal, James "J-Doe" Smith, Al Sherrod Lambert, Ariana Grande, Sean Anderson, Jeff Lorber	H. Samuels, Jo Blaq	4:06
4.	"Tattooed Heart"	Grande	Babyface, Dixon, The Rascals, Squire, Nathaniel Motte	3:14
5.	"Lovin' It"	Babyface, Riddick-Tynes. Thomas III. Ricky "SlikkMuzik" Offord. Dixon. Mark Morales, Audio Two	Babyface, Dixon, The Rascals	3:03
6.	"Piano"	H. Samuels, Jahmaal Noel Fyffe, Parker Ighile, Anisa Moghaddam, Moses Ayo Samuels, Olaniyi Michael Akinkunmi, Grande	H. Samuels, Mo-Keyz, Mikey, Jo Blaq	3:54
7.	"Daydreamin'"	Squire, Brown, McCants	Squire, Brown	3:31
8.	"The Way" (featuring Mac Miller)	H. Samuels, Amber Streeter, Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Malcolm McCormick, Brenda Russell	H. Samuels, Sauce, Grande	3:47
9.	"You'll Never Know"	Riddick-Tynes, Thomas III, Babyface, Dixon	Babyface, Dixon, The Rascals	3:33
10.	"Almost Is Never Enough" (featuring Nathan Sykes)	Grande, H. Samuels, H. "Carmen Reece" Culver, Lambert, M. Samuels, Akinkunmi	H. Samuels, Mo-Keyz, Mikey, Jo Blaq, Reece, Talay Riley, Mark Asari	5:27
11.	"Popular Song" (Mika featuring Ariana Grande)	Mika, Priscilla Renea, Mathieu Jomphe, Stephen Schwartz	Greg Wells, Mika, Nick Littlemore, Jason Nevins	3:21
12.	"Better Left Unsaid"	H. Samuels, Courtney Harrell, Lambert, M. Samuels, Akinkunmi, Grande	H. Samuels, Mo-Keyz, Mikey, Jo Blaq, Sauce	3:31
Total length:				46:23

Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"The Way (Spanglish Version)"	Harmony Samuels, Amber Streeter, Al Sherrod Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Malcom McCormick, Brenda Russell, J Balvin, Ariana Grande	Harmony Samuels	3:47
14.	"Honeymoon Avenue (Live from London)"	Kristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III, Antonio Dixon, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Thomas Lee Brown, Travis Sayles, Victoria McCants, Roahn Hylton, Dennis "Aganee" Jenkins, Maurice Wade	Babyface, Dixon, The Rascals	5:01
15.	"Daydreamin' (Live from London)"	Matt Squire, Thomas Lee Brown, Victoria McCants	Matt Squire, Tommy Brown	3:33
16.	"Baby I (Live from London)"	Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Antonio Dixon, Patrick "j.Que" Smith	Babyface, Antonio Dixon	3:17
17.	"Tattooed Heart (Live from London)"	Kristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas III, Antonio Dixon, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Matt Squire, Ariana Grande, Sean Foreman	Babyface, Antonio Dixon	3:17
18.	"Right There (Live from London)" (featuring Big Sean)	Harmony Samuels, H. "Carmen Reece" Culver, J. "Lonny" Bereal, James "J-Doe" Smith, Al Sherrod Lambert, Ariana Grande, Sean Anderson, Jeff Lorber, King Los	Harmony Samuels	3:17
19.	"The Way (Live from London)" (featuring Mac Miller)	Harmony Samuels, Amber Streeter, Al Sherrod Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Malcom McCormick, Brenda Russell, J Balvin, Ariana Grande	Harmony Samuels	3:38

iTunes Store (bonus track)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"The Way" (featuring Mac Miller) (Spanglish Version)	H. Samuels, Streeter, Lambert, Sparks, McCormick, Russell	H. Samuels, Sauce, Grande, Edgar Cortazar, Mark Portmann	3:46
Total length:				50:09

Latin America (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"The Way" (featuring J Balvin) (Spanglish Version)	H. Samuels, Streeter, Lambert, Sparks, McCormick, Russell	H. Samuels, Sauce, Grande, Edgar Cortazar, Mark Portmann	3:46
Total length:				53:56

Japanese Edition (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"The Way" (featuring Mac Miller) (JdB Radio)	H. Samuels, Streeter, Lambert, Sparks, McCormick, Russell	H. Samuels, Sauce, Grande, JdB	4:24
14.	"Baby I" (Cosmic Dawn Radio Edit)	Edmonds, Dixon, Smith	Edmonds, Dixon, Cosmic Dawn	3:59
15.	"Right There" (featuring Big Sean) (7th Heaven Radio Edit)	H. Samuels, Culver, Bereal, Smith, Lambert, Grande, Anderson, Lorber	H. Samuels, Jo Blaq, 7th Heaven	4:03
Total length:				58:49

Japanese Deluxe Edition (bonus DVD)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Way" (featuring Mac Miller) (Music Video)	3:47
2.	"Baby I" (Music Video)	3:17

Latin America (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"The Way" (featuring J Balvin) (Spanglish Version)	H. Samuels, Streeter, Lambert, Sparks, McCormick, Russell	H. Samuels, Sauce, Grande, Edgar Cortazar, Mark Portmann	3:46
Total length:				53:56

Japanese Edition (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"The Way" (featuring Mac Miller) (JdB Radio)	H. Samuels, Streeter, Lambert, Sparks, McCormick, Russell	H. Samuels, Sauce, Grande, JdB	4:24
14.	"Baby I" (Cosmic Dawn Radio Edit)	Edmonds, Dixon, Smith	Edmonds, Dixon, Cosmic Dawn	3:59
15.	"Right There" (featuring Big Sean) (7th Heaven Radio Edit)	H. Samuels, Culver, Bereal, Smith, Lambert, Grande, Anderson, Lorber	H. Samuels, Jo Blaq, 7th Heaven	4:03
Total length:				58:49

Cut tracks

• "30H!3 Outtake 1"
• "Boyfriend Material"
• "Butterflies"
• "Do You Love Me?" (original sophomore single)
• "First Time"
• "Human"
• "ILAB"
• "La Vie En Rose"
• "Nobody Does It Better"
• "Oh, Darling"
• "Parachute"
• "Pink Champagne"
• "Please Don't Let Me Go"
• "Put Your Hearts Up" (original lead single)
• "Real"
• "Saturday Love"
• "Sandman"
• "'Til We Finally Meet"
• "Unknown Nick Jonas Duet"
• "Unknown Nick Jonas Ballad"
• "Unknown Sean Kingston Collaboration"
• "Voodoo Love"
• "Young Love"

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