Ariana Grande Named ‘Billboard’ Woman Of The Year As She Continues To Mourn Loss Of Mac Miller

It’s been a rough year for Ariana Grande, but at least she’s ending it on a high note.

Today, Billboard announced that Grande has been named their 2018 “Woman of the Year” after the incredible success of her fourth album, Sweetener. Past winners of the prestigious award include Selena Gomez, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift. Grande will be presented with the award on December 6, at the 13th annual Women in Music dinner in New York City.

Ross Scarano, who serves as Billboard‘s Vice President of Content, announced the exciting news earlier today in a statement to the press.

“Ariana Grande is a star on her own terms, never bending to any particular musical trend or path in the industry. Certain in her convictions, she consistently stands up for herself and her decisions in a world that often isn’t hospitable to that sort of strength in young women. She’s got guts, she’s making some of the best music of her career, and she’s absolutely deserving of Woman of the Year.”

Since her career first began, Grande has earned the coveted No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album charts three times, most recently for her latest album. Aside from her music, Grande is also being recognized for her charity work with a number of organizations — including March for Our Lives, the LGBTQ movement, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

The singer is clearly honored by the nod from Billboard, taking to Twitter to offer her thanks for the award earlier today. Grande’s legion of loyal Twitter followers also obviously find the singer deserving of the award, giving Ariana’s “thank you” tweet a ton of love with over 73,000 likes, 6,800 retweets, and 2,700 comments.

Additionally, Grande shared the news with her 133 million plus Instagram followers, sharing a photo of herself along with the good news. In just a few short hours, that post has also gained a lot of attention, accruing over 802,000 likes and 8,000 plus comments.

But while Grande has been blessed with very good news today, the singer is still reeling after the death of of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller. Earlier today, the 25-year-old commented on a video, posted to Twitter, that a fan shared with her. The video showed Miller listening to “R.E.M” from Grande’s album, Sweetener. Ariana replied to the video saying, “his voice and laugh. he is supposed to be here. thank u for finding this.”

It has been a hard year for Ariana, breaking off her engagement with fiance Pete Davidson shortly after losing her ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, early in September.

Hopefully this Billboard award will help to boost her spirits.