"No Tears Left to Cry" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ariana Grande. It was released on April 20, 2018, by Republic Records as the lead single from her fourth studio album, Sweetener (2018). The song was written by Grande and Savan Kotecha with its producers Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh. An uptempo dance-pop, disco, power pop, and dance-R&B song driven by a UK garage beat, its lyrics reflect on Grande's efforts to move on following the Manchester Arena bombing, a terrorist attack on her concert the previous year, "celebrating rising above the world's negativity" with a "nearly spoken-word" vocalization.
The song received widespread acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised the song's positive message and optimistic composition. "No Tears Left to Cry" was nominated for various accolades, including an MTV Europe Music Award and an NRJ Music Award. In the US, "No Tears Left to Cry" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number three, further extending her record as being the only artist to debut in the top ten with the lead single from all of her studio albums. It became her third single to top the US Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart. Internationally, the song topped the charts in thirteen countries, including Australia, Ireland and Norway.
An accompanying music video directed by Dave Meyers premiered on YouTube that same day to critical acclaim. It explores a concept of disorientation in life, and the complexities and disillusionment of the world. It received four nominations at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, later winning Best Pop.
Background Following the Manchester Arena bombing during her Dangerous Woman Tour in May 2017, Ariana Grande became reluctant to record new music, preferring to spend time with her loved ones because of the emotional impact the tour had on her. "No Tears Left to Cry" was the first song Grande wrote with Max Martin, Ilya and Savan Kotecha for Sweetener, after working with Pharrell Williams for most of the album. She wanted her first single since the bombing to be hopeful and touch on the incident, but not dwell on it. The song came about when Grande said, "I want it to be positive and talk about positivity and love. I don't have any tears left to cry." Martin then sang the chorus melody. They composed the music before writing the lyrics.
Grande intended for "No Tears Left to Cry" to bridge a change in sound from her previous album Dangerous Woman (2016) by being more obscure and unexpected, inspired by her work with Williams, and thus suggested its verses and chorus to be in different keys. Kotecha cited Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and En Vogue's "Don't Let Go (Love)" as inspiration for the track's chord changes. Grande also wanted it to start as a ballad and then become uptempo like "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. Kotecha recalled, "It was important to her to start as a ballad and Max and Ilya started playing those chords and it just fit; it was magical. It all came together and had this flow." However, a lot of time was spent working on the pre-chorus until Ilya found a fixed groove. According to Kotecha, they opted for simpler lyrics to make the song "digestible" and "easier to grasp" because of its already complex chord changes and melodic shifts. The track was recorded at MXM and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Grande said she hoped for it to bring light and comfort, and encourage listeners to dance and "live ya best life!"
Composition "No Tears Left to Cry" is a dance-pop, power pop, disco, and dance-R&B song. The song is in time and is originally in the key of A minor, with a tempo of 122 beats per minute. The refrain is based on an Am–G–F–Am–G–F–C–Dm–Am–C chord progression, while the verses follow an A(add2)–F(add2)–G(add2) sequence. Grande's vocal range spans from G3 to G5.
Lyrically, the song is about optimism; according to Rolling Stone, it "celebrates rising above the world's negativity". Variety noted that the song's chorus contrastingly features Grande alternating between "lifting her voice, pleadingly, for positivity" with the lyrics "Oh, I just want you to come with me / We're on another mentality", and "rhythmically" chanting "I'm lovin', I’m livin', I'm pickin' it up" with a "nearly spoken-word" vocalization.
Release Variety initially reported on April 9, 2018 that the track would be released on April 27, 2018. Grande began teasing social media on April 15, 2018, using teardrop emojis and the song's title written as "ʎɹɔ oʇ ʇɟǝl sɹɐǝʇ ou". The title appeared on billboards across the US and featured on grey sweatshirts worn on social media by Grande, her half-brother Frankie and then-boyfriend Mac Miller. A listening party in London was also held. The song premiered worldwide at midnight ET on April 20, 2018, as the lead single from Grande's fourth studio album, Sweetener. The grey sweatshirts were made available for purchase on Grande's website the following day, bundled with a digital copy of the track. In the US, "No Tears Left to Cry" was sent to hot adult contemporary radio stations on April 23, 2018, and to rhythmic contemporary and contemporary hit radio stations the next day.
Critical reception "No Tears Left to Cry" received universal acclaim from music critics upon its release. Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork said it is a musical progression for Grande and her vocals surpass those of her peers. According to Garvey, the song is "striking in its optimism: the soundtrack for the exact moment you decide to keep going." Similarly, The Observer deemed it "a dazzling exercise in pop lightness, bringing optimism after last year's Manchester attack." In The Guardian, Laura Snapes gave it four out of five stars, citing it as a "timeless sad song" and akin to Grande's One Love Manchester concert as "one of the most joyful, defiant celebrations of pop and the communities it inspires". Joel Golby, also from The Guardian, found the song expansive and appropriate, complimenting Grande's high notes and unconventional adlibs. Matt Mellis of Consequence of Sound noted Grande's skill in cadence change and a lasting relevancy through hope and resilience.
In NME, Nick Reilly complimented the track's "hugely infectious" chorus, while Hannah Mylrea regarded it as euphoria and concluded, "Tackling hate and devastation with hope and disco, 'No Tears Left to Cry' is a triumph." Matthew Kent of The Line of Best Fit commented, "Ariana is picking it up while we're turning this up", and said she "certainly pulled it out of the bag". Fact gave the track a score of 7.7 out of 10, describing it as "somber but triumphant and even though it includes cringy lyrics... it packs a punch." In his review for Billboard, Andrew Unterberger wrote that the song is "a grower, not to be fully appreciated on first listen." Writing for Variety, Chris Willman called it "the breeziest, most danceable kind of post-traumatic recovery anthem", but said "it's not likely to ever be inducted into the Max Martin Hall of Fame". Spencer Kornhaber, in The Atlantic, called the song "one of the best pure pop singles in memory. ... Grande’s voice curls in surprising ways, from husky to flighty and back. Most glorious are the keyboards: The progressions verge on jazziness, with each chord stabbed out in a manner that evokes someone touching a hot surface. The lyrics describe being all cried out, but the arrangement clearly suggests a flood of tears on the dance floor."Kornhaber, Spencer. "What Is Ariana Grande Doing?" , The Atlantic, July 18, 2018 In a May 2018 Time magazine cover article, Sam Lansky says of the song:
Stereogum ranked "No Tears Left to Cry" as the ninth best song of the 2010s, praising it as "glittering and triumphant, grand and unapologetic [...] The song exudes the magic of moving forward and marked a new era of Grande. She graduates from the glitzy trend-pop that dominated her earlier work, transforming her grief and recovery into a soaring dance ballad. It has all the elements of a first-rate Ariana Grande song — her iconic vocal range is stretched for all its worth, backed by a contagious shuffling beat — and adds a new strength to her resume: vulnerability." NME ranked it as the best song of 2018 in their year-end poll, and ranked it at number 28 on their "Best Songs of the Decade" list. Time Out ranked "No Tears Left to Cry" as the 25th best pop song of all time. The Guardian and Rolling Stone both named it as Grande's second best song, behind "Into You".
Accolades +Accolades for "No Tears Left to Cry" Year Organization Award Result 2018MTV Europe Music AwardsBest VideoBest SongMTV Video Music AwardsVideo of the YearBest PopBest CinematographyBest Visual EffectsMTV Video Music Awards JapanBest Female Video – InternationalNickelodeon Mexico Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite HitNRJ Music AwardsInternational Song of the YearVideo of the YearPeople's Choice AwardsSong of the YearMusic Video of the YearTeen Choice AwardsChoice Song: Female Artist Choice Pop Song2019Global AwardsBest Song
Commercial performance North America On the US Billboard Hot 100, "No Tears Left to Cry" debuted at number three (barred from the top by the Drake songs "Nice For What" and "God's Plan") with sales of 100,000 digital downloads sold in its opening week according to Nielsen Music, debuting atop the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart and becoming Grande's third chart-topper there. The track drew in 36.9 million streams from the time of its release, allowing it to debut at number five on the Streaming Songs chart, and received early radio support causing it to enter Billboards Radio Songs chart at number 35 with 27 million audience impressions. The single became Grande's ninth top-ten single and her highest debut on the Hot 100 (tied with her 2014 single "Problem") at the time. The song also marked her sixth top-ten debut, thus tying Grande with Lady Gaga and Rihanna in sixth among acts with most top 10 debuts on the chart. Grande also continued her record for being the first artist to debut within the opening ten positions of the chart with every lead single—"The Way", "Problem", and "Dangerous Woman"—of her first four studio albums. Following the release of Sweetener, the song rebounded into the Hot 100's top ten at number seven in its eighteenth week on the chart, rising five positions from number 12 the previous week, allowing it to notch a 12th week within the top ten. In March 2019, "No Tears Left to Cry" was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments exceeding three million units in the United States.
On the Billboard Mainstream Top 40, "No Tears Left to Cry" debuted at number 30 as the highest entry of the week, rising to number 22 the following week. The song eventually topped the chart on the issue dated July 21, 2018, becoming her third number one on the chart following "Problem" in 2014, and "Side to Side" in 2016. The song has also reached a peak of number three on the Radio Songs chart, number four on the Adult Top 40, number 12 on the Rhythmic Songs chart, and number 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. On the Billboard Dance Club Songs, it reached number-one on the magazine's June 23, 2018 issue, becoming her second number-one hit on the chart and first as lead artist. She also became the first female artist ever to have two number one hit songs on the chart. In Canada, the song became Grande's highest-charting single at the time, entering in the runner-up position on the Canadian Hot 100, behind Drake's "Nice for What", while debuting atop the Canadian Digital Song Sales chart. The track was later certified platinum by Music Canada in July 2018 for shipments of 80,000 units.
Europe, Oceania and Asia