All About Ariana Grande's Brother Frankie Grande — and How Their “Wicked” Journey Started Together!

Ariana Grande has always had a close bond with her older brother Frankie Grande

Ariana Grande has a built-in best friend with her older brother Frankie Grande.

The Wicked star's brother was born to their mom, Joan Grande, and his dad, Victor Marchione, in 1983. Ten years later, Ariana joined the family after her mom remarried to her dad, Ed Butera, though the two split when she was 8 years old.

Despite their large age gap, Ariana and Frankie have been close since childhood, with Frankie calling her the "best sister anyone could ask for" in a sweet National Sibling's Day tribute in April 2024.

Related: Meet Ariana Grande's Parents! All About Her Mom Joan Grande and Dad Ed Butera (and the Subtle Way She Honored Them in Wicked)

"I want to take a moment to thank the BEST sister in the world for being there for me through thick and thin," he wrote on Instagram. "I’m eternally proud of you and all the sunshine you continue to spread in this world."

From his own acting career to how he's supported Ariana through the years, here's everything to know about Ariana Grande's brother Frankie.

They grew up in Boca Raton

Frankie was born on Jan. 24, 1983, in New York City and grew up in Englewood, N.J., before his family moved to Boca Raton, Fla., when he was 10 years old. At the time, his mother, Joan, remarried to Ariana's dad, Ed Butera, and the two welcomed the pop star on June 26, 1993.

Though both stars have since moved out of Florida, with Frankie splitting his time between N.Y.C. and Los Angeles, they still frequently return to their hometown where their grandma, Marjorie Grande, still lives.

In November 2024, the brother-sister duo made one of their trips back to Boca Raton to watch Ariana's movie, Wicked, with their "nonna" in the theater they grew up going to.

Frankie is an actor, singer, social media personality and producer

Ariana's brother has an impressive résumé of his own. He took the Broadway stage in Mamma Mia! from 2007 to 2010 and in Rock of Ages from 2014 to 2015. He's also graced the off-Broadway stage in Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical and Titanique. In 2014, Frankie ventured into reality TV and competed on Big Brother 16.

Ahead of the show, he spoke to PEOPLE about his strategy: "I don't want people knowing that I have a social media following and that Ariana Grande is my sister because I feel like both of those things will put an unnecessary target on my back." When the right time came along, Frankie revealed his identity to his fellow contestants. He also later competed on the U.K.'s Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.

The actor works with his mother at Diamond Dog Entertainment, and he has starred in several of its projects including Summoning Sylvia and Horror Camp: A Musical Massacre. When he's not working in entertainment, Frankie serves as a board member of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD and does philanthropy work with organizations like buildOn, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the performing arts education charity Broadway in South Africa, of which he is also a co-founder.

Frankie is also a popular YouTuber with nearly 450,000 subscribers, and he posts personal vlog content, music and more. The performer also shares personal and promotional content on Instagram with his more than 2 million followers.

Frankie married his husband, Hale Leon, in 2022

Frankie married fellow performer Hale Leon on May 4, 2022, in a small, Star Wars-themed ceremony held at the Grande family home in Boca Raton, Fla., and officiated by Joan.

"We then followed our wedding with a joint bachelor party weekend of games with some friends and family and are currently on our mini-moon before I have to head to rehearsal for my upcoming show Titanique," Frankie wrote on Instagram after the nuptials. "And this is only the beginning of the celebrations as we are having a Wedding Ball with all our friends in the upcoming months!"

The performer told PEOPLE nearly a year later that his life "is completely free of anxiety" now that he was married, explaining that he felt "so wonderful and supported."

"I know it's so cheesy, but it really is about compromise and putting yourself in each other's shoes," he said. "When we have an argument or a difficult situation, if I just come at it from where he's coming from, and he comes at it where I'm coming from, we resolve it very, very quickly."

Ariana and Frankie have collaborated on his YouTube channel

Ariana and Frankie have collaborated on several occasions, mostly in joint appearances on Frankie's YouTube channel. The two have made a variety of videos, including comedic sketches, vlog-style content, Q&A videos and song covers. In December 2018, they covered "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent; Frankie took the lead vocals while Ariana harmonized and produced the vocal tracks.

"I am beyond honored to have worked on this incredible project with my best friends in the world including my wonderful sister," Frankie wrote in the video description. "Thank you Ariana for vocal producing as well as adding your magical voice to this beautiful song."

In a December 2019 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Frankie noted that he and Ariana were still "very much in [their] own lanes" but really enjoy working together. He called their "Seasons of Love" collaboration "beautiful." "Whether or not something like [another collaboration] happens in the future, I'm sure it will," he said.

Ariana has supported Frankie in his sobriety

After the trauma of the Manchester, England, bombing at his sister's concert in May 2017, Frankie admitted to turning to drugs and alcohol to help himself cope. A month later, he decided to embark on a sobriety journey, celebrating his one-year sober marker in a personal essay for PEOPLE in June 2018.

"I am a new man, and the man you see before you is the one I was always meant to be," he wrote. "This decision to be sober is a lifetime decision."

Following his essay, Frankie also publicly thanked Ariana on X (formerly Twitter), writing that her "strength" is what gave him the "courage" to seek help.

"u selflessly were there for me the moment i asked, as u were for so many people during that difficult time," he wrote. "i love u. i can’t thank you enough. i could not have done this without u. at all."

He has been supportive of Ariana's career

Ariana's family couldn't be more proud of the talented singer. In November 2021, when she booked the role of Glinda in the two-part film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked, Frankie shed happy tears for his sister.

"I remember when she told me that she booked it, we just both burst into tears together," he recalled to E! News in March 2023. "Because it was something that she had been dreaming of her entire life."

After the movie's November 2024 premiere, Frankie shared an outpouring of love and pride for his younger sister, reflecting on Instagram how he first introduced the musical to Ariana when she was a child.

"From the moment I came home from college and told you about this new musical called Wicked, after seeing it in previews, to us running backstage with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel when you were 10 years old at the Gershwin theatre," he wrote. "I am so happy, excited, and overjoyed to say that you are Glinda the good. I am so proud of you and I love you so much."