Hate That I Made You Love Me

Ariana Grande dropped Hate That I Made You Love Me on May 29, 2026, as the opening track to her eighth studio album. The three-minute seventeen-second single arrived via Republic Records and marked a sharp turn toward a moodier, more introspective sound. Grande co-wrote and produced the track with Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, who built an atmospheric bed of contemporary R&B, alternative pop, and synth-pop that felt restrained compared to her previous chart-toppers.

Critics offered mixed reactions upon release. Some reviewers praised the refined production and deeper lyrical content as signs of artistic maturation, while others felt it lacked the immediate punch of hits like "Thank U, Next." Commercially, however, the song left no room for doubt. It climbed straight to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, accumulating over 50 million streams on Spotify within its first week alone.

The visual component arrived shortly after the audio launch, directed by Justin Long in a narrative described as "fiery revenge." This music video added dramatic tension to the song's themes of regret and self-awareness. Grande performed the track live at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in September, delivering a stripped-down vocal rendition that drew comparisons to her early career work. The performance helped secure two wins for the song at the ceremony, cementing its status as a defining hit of the year. [edit]