"One Last Time" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande. It was released digitally by Republic Records on August 22, 2014, as the second promotional single from her second studio album, My Everything (2014). The song was sent to contemporary hit radio as the fifth and final single from the album on February 10, 2015. It was written by David Guetta, Savan Kotecha, Giorgio Tuinfort, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk. The song was produced by the latter two, with Tuinfort serving as a co-producer and Ilya serving both as a co-producer and vocal producer.

"One Last Time" is a dance-pop and EDM song. Its instrumentation consists of sampled drums and a synth line. The single reached the top-twenty in twelve countries, including Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, where it became Grande's sixth top-twenty single on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was later certified sextuple platinum in Australia, and quadruple platinum in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The song's accompanying music video was released on February 15, 2015, and was directed by Max Landis. It is visually presented as a found footage, similar to Landis's previous work. The video faced controversy due to its similarity to the music video for the Australian band SAFIA's single "You Are the One", with Grande and Landis being accused of intellectual property theft. Grande promoted the song with a live performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 2015 NBA All-Star Game halftime show, and during her first world tour, The Honeymoon Tour (2015).

A French version of the song featuring French singer Kendji Girac, alternatively titled "Attends-moi", was released on February 16, 2015, in France, Belgium and Switzerland. An Italian version of the song featuring Italian rapper Fedez was released on May 26, 2015, only in Italy. Grande re-released "One Last Time" as a charity single in June 2017, following the Manchester Arena bombing at her concert the previous month. It resulted in the song reaching a new peak of number 2 on the UK Singles Chart following the One Love Manchester concert, as well as reaching a new peak of number 15 in the Irish Singles Chart and peaking at number one in Scotland. Grande donated all proceeds from the re-release to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund to aid the victims of the bombing and their families. Overall, the song reached a top-ten peak in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the top-twenty of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, and the United States.

Background and release

"One Last Time" was written by the songwriting team Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk, with Dutch producer Giorgio Tuinfort and French disc jockey, David Guetta. Kotecha had previously collaborated with Grande when producing the singles from My Everything, "Problem", "Break Free", "Bang Bang", and "Love Me Harder". Guetta was working on his album Listen, and while making the album he chose to give "One Last Time" to Grande, since "[he] had like 120 songs and [was] trying to make an album that ma[de] sense because some of the songs can be great, but that doesn't mean that they would fit together. ['One Last Time' is] one example", he claimed. "One Last Time" was strongly considered to be My Everythings lead-single, according to Republic Records's executive vice president, Charlie Walk; however, "Problem" was chosen instead, being the song that best "set the tone for the project". Later, Walk claimed that Break Free' felt like summer", while "Bang Bang" helped usher in English singer Jessie J's album, Sweet Talker, and "fall/winter felt like the best time for 'Love Me Harder', since it's a heavier, darker record", he added.

Before being released as an official single, "One Last Time" was released for free via iTunes Stores as the album's second promotional single on August 22, 2014, following "Best Mistake", released on August 12. Ultimately, "One Last Time" was released as the album's fifth and final single, being serviced to rhythmic crossover and contemporary hit radio stations on February 10, 2015, in the US. The song was also released as a duet with French singer Kendji Girac. Titled "Attends-moi" ('Wait for Me'), it was released in Belgium, France, and Switzerland on February 16, 2015. It is included on the deluxe version of his debut studio album, Kendji (2015). According to Girac, the duet was arranged by his artistic director, since he and Grande share the same music corporation, Universal Music Group. On May 26, 2015, an Italian version of the song featuring Italian rapper Fedez was released in Italy. The song was re-released in June 2017 as a charity single, with proceeds being donated to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

Composition

"One Last Time" was produced by Falk and Yacoub, co-produced by Tuinfort and Ilya, with vocal production being done by Ilya, Kotecha and Yacoub. "One Last Time" is a dance-pop and EDM song, with a total length of three minutes and seventeen seconds (3:17). Its instrumentations consist in "pummeling drums and a three-note synth line". "One Last Time" is written in the key of A-flat major, with a moderately fast tempo of 125 beats per minute. Grande's vocals range from A3 to F5. Lyrically, the song describes a female protagonist who asks her former lover to spend one last time with her, even though they have already moved on from her and is with someone new. As noted by Jason Lipshut of Billboard, "the downbeat admission of 'I know/that you got everything/But I got nothing here without you' is the pained sound of a narrator racked with guilt, the chorus sets aside that humiliation and scoops up a sense of hope," with the singer pleading, "One last time/I need to be the one who takes you home/One more time/I promise after that, I'll let you go". Rob Copsey of The Official Charts Company noted that the song " reminded him of Swedish's recording artist, Loreen's 2012 Eurovision winning song, "Euphoria".

Critical reception "One Last Time" received highly positive reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic picked the song as one of the album's highlights, while Jason Lipshut of Billboard praised the track for "demonstrat[ing] Grande's newfound maturity and ambition". Rob Copsey wrote for the Official Charts Company that 'One Last Time' "suits her better than you’d think, [with] the singer reign[ing] in her powerful pipes on this breezy and wistful club track". while Anne Zaleski of The A.V. Club thought the song "channels a more powerful version of On the 6-era Jennifer Lopez," also calling it an "electronica-dusted [song]". AXS's Lucas Villa praised her performance for "exud[ing] sincerity and grace" and added that "[t]his baby-come-back tune showcases a softer side to the singer that highlights her dulcet vocals." FDRMX writer John Mychal Feraren gave "One Last Time" a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, calling it "an excellent addition to her list of hit songs" and claiming that "its astounding musical production is effortlessly matched by [the] singer's sultry voice [...] transform[ing] an empty song into a masterpiece."

Mikael Wood, while reviewing the album for Los Angeles Times, called it a "delight [with] surging dance beats," while Digital Spy's Lewis Corner named it a "restrained sibling" of "Break Free", having "speckles of electronica to save it from falling into dwindling balladry". Jean-Luc Marsh of Pretty Much Amazing noted that the "otherworldly notes that Grande hits on 'One Last Time' and 'Why Try' remain standouts several listens through". Similarly, The Nationals Adam Workman claimed Grande is "far more effective when she leaves the musical school of 'why sing one note when you can stretch it out for several bars across three different octaves?, citing the "lower-key" song as an example. Nick Levine of Time Out concluded that the song "serves club pop with a side of melancholy". In contrast, Evan Sawdey of PopMatters observed that the song "strikes all the dance-pop and EDM-lite poses it needs to without leaving any significant impression afterwards". The Guardian and Rolling Stone both ranked the song number six on their lists of the greatest Ariana Grande songs.

Commercial performance Prior to being serviced as a single, "One Last Time" initially appeared on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at number 11 in August 2014 as the second promotional single for the parent album. Following its impact to American radio formats, the song debuted at number 80 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of February 28, 2015. It jumped to number 34 the following week, while trailing behind her own "Love Me Harder". The song later climbed to number 18, becoming Grande's fifth consecutive top-twenty single from the album and sixth career overall. "One Last Time" eventually peaked at number 13, on the week of May 2, 2015, becoming the only single from My Everything to not enter the top ten in the country, effectively ending Grande's streak of consecutive top ten hits from 2014. On the Mainstream Top 40 chart, the song peaked at number six, also becoming her fifth top ten single on the Pop charts. As of June 2020, "One Last Time" had sold 918,000 digital units in the US, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Similar to the US, the song has also become her fifth consecutive top-twenty single in Canada, peaking at number 12.

In Australia, "One Last Time" debuted on the ARIA Charts on the week of March 8, 2015 at number 27 and went on to reach a peak of number 15 on April 5, 2015, becoming her fifth top-twenty single there. Meanwhile, in New Zealand the song debuted at number 32, and a week later it peaked at number 22. It was higher than her previous single, "Love Me Harder", which peaked at number 28, and promotional single "Best Mistake", which charted at number 29.

Across Europe, "One Last Time" proved to be moderately successful initially. In France, both versions of the song charted; the original version of the song reached number ten, becoming her highest charting-single there (until "7 Rings" in 2019 which peaked at number two) and her first top-ten single [, while the French version, "Attends-moi" with Kendji Girac, debuted and peaked at number 11, becoming her highest single debut, second highest charting-single and third top-twenty there. In Italy, the song peaked at number six on the FIMI Singles Chart, becoming her first top-ten hit in that country, and was certified double platinum by the FIMI. Note: To retrieve the certifications, 1) type in Ariana Grande in the box of "Filtra", 2) select years in the box of "Anno", 3) select "Singoli online" in the box of "Sezione" for singles or "Album e compilation" for albums, 4) click Enter

In the United Kingdom, "One Last Time" originally peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart in early 2015, marking Grande's fourth top-forty single in the country, following number one singles "Problem" and "Bang Bang" as well as top-twenty single "Break Free". It was later certified gold by the BPI for reaching 400,000 sales+streaming figures.

Manchester Arena bombing and resurgence