Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” the second single from her album Thank U, Next, was released Jan. 18, 2019. Grande and several others cowrite the song, which contains an interpolation of “My Favorite Things” from the 1959 Broadway show The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who are credited as songwriters. The single debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, where it spent eight weeks atop the chart, becoming Grande’s longest-running #1 and her longest-running song overall on the charts, spending 33 consecutive weeks before dropping off. The song also topped the charts in 19 countries and reached the top 10 in another 10. It received 2020 Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and for Best Pop Solo Performance, losing to Billie Eilish and Lizzo, respectively, but it has become one of the best-selling songs in digital history.
Grande is no stranger to musical theater. As a young child, she debuted with the Fort Lauderdale Children’s Theater in the lead role of Annie. By 2008, Grande was on Broadway in Jason Robert Brown’s 13, before being cast in the Nickelodeon musical series Victorious. Grande’s other theater credits include the 2010 musical Cuba Libre, the 2012 holiday show A Snow White Christmas, and the 2016 live broadcast of Hairspray.
Mary Martin introduced the song onstage in 1959, and numerous artists covered the tune in the 1960s. Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane improvised a 14-minute version for the title track of his 1961 album, and in 1964 Jack Jones was the first to include the song on a Christmas album, despite Hammerstein’s lyrics never mentioning the holiday. The last version to chart was Herb Alpert’s 1969 cover, which rose to #45 on the Billboard 100. To compare the original version with Grande’s interpolation, watch Julie Andrews below performing the song in the 1964 film version of The Sound of Music.