It's official: Ariana Grande and Big Sean have split as a result of their mutually busy schedules, touring and supporting new albums My Everything and Dark Sky Paradise. The pair had only been dating for eight months but they were one of America's favorite celebrity couples during that span. We're just glad that, for the time being, things seem to be friendly and we hope there won't be another "I Don't F*ck With You" in the future (Sean wrote that about ex Naya Rivera). Music Times is going back to 2014 and ranking the year's biggest musician splits—from Mariah Carey to Katy Perry and Khloe Kardashian—in terms of how heavily it impacted tabloid and media coverage.
08) Matt Bellamy and Kate Hudson
The guitarist and the actress split during 2014, pulling out early after a three-year engagement. Although Hudson has appeared in a few blockbusters and Muse certainly isn't a small act, neither of the individuals in this relationship made for traditional tabloid fare, which is a good thing. We also have to give kudos to Bellamy for seemingly not working the breakup into his band's next album Drones. We don't need another broken-hearted lament like some of the albums released by other individuals on this list last year.
07) John Mayer and Katy Perry
This pair deserves some degree of credit for being major music figures and managing to pull off a break-up as subtly as they did. The likely cause of the lack of media coverage was that the pair had been together for very short period of time and it wasn't the first time either. If anything, Perry's supposed interactions with Robert Pattinson generated more interest among the masses. Mayer's past pairings with Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift made this less interesting as well.
06) French Montana and Khloe Kardashian
In retrospect, it seems interesting how relatively little coverage this split got, considering one of the parties sports the last name "Kardashian." Although every daughter in the family is able to generate irrational numbers of headliners, this coupling was second-rate from the get-go: It seemed like a desperate knockoff of the Kim/Kanye West partnership that's become the biggest name among tabloid targets since the Royal Wedding. We'd like to be optimistic and think that the rest of the world wants Khloé to get back together with Lamar Odom.
05) Calvin Harris and Rita Ora
Calvin Harris is the world's highest-paid EDM DJ and Rita Ora is an Oscar-nominated pop star, so it's a tad surprising that this pair didn't generate more headlines while they were together. The pair gathered media attention when things got sour shortly after the breakup however. Although it seemed at the time that it was just another case of different performers living on different schedules, there seemed to be some bad blood: Ora was scheduled to appear on the Teen Choice Awards and perform "I Will Never Let You Down," but her bit was cancelled suddenly. She told Ryan Seacrest that as Harris had written the song, he got final say on whether it could be performed at the event. He said "no," apparently. He's now dating Taylor Swift, apparently aiming to have a song written about him after his next breakup.
04) Jason Derulo and Jordin Sparks
This was definitely the most disappointing breakup of 2014 for your correspondent. After all, Derulo had entered the year with "Marry Me" being the first single from his new album and we were sure he was finally going to pop the question with Sparks, his then-girlfriend of three years. His attitude on relationships must have changed around the singles "Talk Dirty" and "Wiggle." This is another case where the details are less-than-established but Sparks suggested that the breakup never formally happened...he just stopped returning her calls.
03) Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow
Despite having been married for more than 10 years, Coldplay's Martin and Paltrow almost got away with a hubbub-less separation were it not for some quirky wording in the official statement (presented on the actress's website): She claimed the company had undergone a "conscious uncoupling," versus an actual divorce. It was a real concept, a new world process by which unhappy couples can go through a strategic split together, supposedly ending up happier and separate (although not legally). The couple ended up legally divorced by the end of the year anyhow. Martin apparently uncoupled faster, recouping with Jennifer Lawrence at one point (although that was much quicker to end).
02) Robin Thicke and Paula Patton
Robin Thicke's career more-or-less began and ended with "Blurred Lines." At first he was on the way to the A-list as it became the best-selling single of 2013. Things started going south quickly however as the Marvin Gaye estate brought a lawsuit claiming the song ripped off "Got To Give It Up," and then controversy continued to build around the song: Did it imply taking advantage of intoxicated women, and therefore date rape? The music video—featuring a trio of topless women—would make any wife nervous. Patton split from the performer early in the year and he attempted to woo her back with Paula, a painfully awkward apology to both hear and see.
01) Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon
When Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon got married during 2008, there was much speculation among doubters/haters. After all, there was more than a decade in age difference between the vocal superstar and the actor/performer. We were disappointed to see that cynics may have been correct as the couple split last year despite having twins together. Carey broke down onstage at a performance at the Beacon Theatre in New York, while Cannon was spotted with Amber Rose—who's been involved in tabloid fodder with both Kanye West and after divorcing Wiz Khalifa—(both events kept the ex-couple in the headlines). The good news is that the pair recently got together so both could spend Easter with their children. Don't expect them to come back together however.
