Rise to Fame
She was singing on South Florida cruise ships as a kid, then Broadway at 15 in 13, then three years as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon's Victorious. Nobody expected the music career to be the main event. Her 2013 debut Yours Truly hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and 'The Way' went top 10, with critics comparing her vocal range to Mariah Carey. The comparison wasn't hyperbole. She'd been building that voice since South Florida.
In the Spotlight
The Manchester bombing in 2017, which killed 22 people at her concert, made her something pop stars rarely become: someone people actually respect. She returned to the city within two weeks, first to visit victims, then to headline a benefit with Katy Perry and Justin Bieber. The Wicked films (2024, 2025) confirmed the acting career everyone was skeptical about. She's collected two Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy for Best Pop Duo with Cynthia Erivo. American Horror Story Season 13 is next. The pop star era is starting to read like setup.
Side Notes
The Pete Davidson engagement was so brief (June to October 2018) that it became a cultural punchline about moving fast. The Ethan Slater situation in 2023 landed harder: both of them were reportedly still married when they started dating on the Wicked set. Her divorce was finalized in March 2024. But she co-founded a South Florida charity as a preteen that was raising over $500,000 a year. The tabloid stuff has always had trouble keeping up.