Frankie Grande is no stranger to performing. Spending his early days in the theater, the 42-year-old singer, actor, and dancer has played roles in Broadway shows like “Mamma Mia!” and “Rock of Ages.” In 2007 he co-starred in the national tour of “Dora the Explorer Live!” as Boots the Monkey. It’s safe to say, Grande has dedicated his life to entertainment.
In 2014, he made the jump to television, starring in Season 16 of MTV’s reality series, Big Brother. It was on this show that Grande quickly rose to fame for his infectious personality and unapologetic confidence.
From there, Grande came to the network where his sister, multi-hyphenate pop star Ariana Grande’s career started seven years prior: Nickelodeon. He played the villain Frankini on “Henry Danger,” “Danger Force,” and most recently, “Henry Danger: The Movie.”
With his angular face and signature platinum blonde hair, Grande stands out in a crowd. He’s created a successful brand for himself as a personality and socialite, mingling with Hollywood’s elite. His bubbly, confident persona has garnered him millions of followers across social media.
But outside of the spotlight, Grande faced a private struggle with drug and alcohol abuse for many years. This month marks his eighth year of sobriety. Grande’s personal milestone aligns perfectly with the release of his first-ever album, “Hotel Rock Bottom,” which debuted today.
The collection of pop songs ranges in genre from traditional pop, to dance ballads and “underground Berlin bangers,” as Grande told the Beacon.
“I run the gambit of the entire past twenty years of my life on this album,” said Grande.
Talking about his inspiration for the album’s title, Grande said that “Hotel Rock Bottom” is based on a real place where he experienced one of the biggest ultimatums of his life.“It was in London. And it was where I locked myself after the One Love Manchester Concert. It was definitely one of the darkest and worst moments of my whole life,” he said.
The One Love Manchester Concert was an event organized by Ariana in response to a suicide bombing at her concert at the Manchester Arena in May, 2017. The bombing left 22 people dead and over 1,000 people injured.
Grande said the lyrics of “Hotel Rock Bottom” reflect the real-life toll this event had on his mental health.
“The lyrics are like, ‘If I’m checking out tomorrow.’ And there’s a double entendre there, because it’s like, ‘am I gonna check out of the hotel room, or am I gonna check out of life?’” said Grande.
He explained that this traumatic moment in his life led to a real, substantial change in his substance abuse.
“That was that moment where I decided, either I’m going to check out of life, […] or I’m gonna check out of this hotel and go straight to rehab,” said Grande.
The album reflects on different eras from Grande’s adult life, with certain songs depicting various emotions and feelings he experienced in the past, including mourning, escapism, heartbreak, and euphoria. His song “Boys,” which currently sits at over 153,000 Spotify streams, is a dance-pop song with colorful lyrics describing his unabashed love for men. The song’s lyrics pay homage to pop icon Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 song, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” In “Boys,” Grande sings, “Boys, wanna have a little fun. Wanna fake a little love. Wanna leave ‘em when we’re done.”
In the “Boys” music video, Grande partnered with the LGBTQ+ sexual health brand Mistr. He said that, when he originally pitched the video to Mistr, they said it was exactly the type of video they had been waiting to make; they just hadn’t found the right artist to do it.
“As a video that is so sexually provocative, and very sexually freeing and embracing of sexuality, I think it’s really important to also partner with someone like Mistr who is so sexually health conscious,” said Grande.
Mistr delivers PrEP, a once-daily pill regimen to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, to anybody who qualifies for insurance coverage. The pill is 99% effective at preventing the spread of HIV, and Mistr says that they’ll help anybody qualify for patient benefits if they are struggling to get a prescription. Grande says he’s working with the organization, in part, because he wants to take the stigma away from Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), which have historically been associated with the LGBTQ+ community.
As the older brother of a Grammy-award winning singer and actress, Grande says he’s become accustomed to being the sibling to make a lot of first moves in the entertainment industry. He was the first one to perform in musicals, work on Broadway, and act professionally. But when it comes to music, Grande says he looks to his sister for advice.
“Every day, I pinch myself when Ariana tells me that this is the best project she’s ever heard. She’s just so unbelievably enthusiastic, and it means so much to me because obviously I think she’s the greatest artist on Earth,” said Grande. “Her belief in me has been so amazing.”
The release of “Hotel Rock Bottom” comes right at the end of June, which is federally recognized as Pride month. When asked how this Pride month is different from years past, Grande said: “My entire Pride this year is dedicated towards my trans siblings.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports there are currently 597 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States. In six states, including Georgia, Nebraska, and Indiana, school bans on transgender athletes have been signed into law. Grande said he feels it was absolutely necessary to include transgender representation in his “Boys” music video.
“For me especially, and since we’re talking about the music video, having a trans man play my boyfriend in the video is really important to me.”
35-year-old Laith Ashley, an openly transgender model, plays Grande’s lover in the video. He’s been an outspoken leader in the LGBTQ+ community, performing his music at LA Pride and becoming the first transgender man on the Pit Crew of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Grande said that the release of “Hotel Rock Bottom” represents more than a fun new collection of pop songs; it is a major move in the gay music scene.
“I think we’re still at a place where there are not enough openly really really gay male pop stars, artists,” said Grande. “So sometimes just creating fun music as who I truly am, which is like the gayest, biggest homosexual on earth, is, in and of itself, shocking and protesting.”
For decades, Grande said, female singers have been objectified and forced to wear revealing clothes on stage. Now, he’s changing the standards for pop performance through fully embracing his body and identity on stage.
“I just really feel good about being the type of gay male pop star who is doing all the things that women have been so accepted for doing in the industry for years,” said Grande.
With this new album, and the undying support of his friends, family, and fans, Grande is entering a brand new era of his life—one that is still being written. And this time, he’s the one holding the pen.
