The song was written by Amber Streeter, Al Sherrod Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Brenda Russell, Miller, and the producer Harmony Samuels.

On December 12, 2011, Grande released her debut single "Put Your Hearts Up", which is a bubblegum pop song with a vastly different style of music and target demographic than "The Way.

During a radio interview on KIIS-FM on March 25, 2013 about her debut single, Grande confessed that she had in fact "hated" both the music video for and the song itself, considering it to be "a terrible first impression".

[8] The beat he had created for the single, samples Brenda Russell's "A Little Bit of Love" either directly or indirectly, via Big Pun's "Still Not a Player".

[24] MTV Buzzworthy's Jenna Hally Rubenstein praised the song, advising readers to "keep one eye on Ariana" as "she may very well be the hottest pop newcomer in the game".

Rubenstein also commented that the song's "early '00s-influenced R&B vibes" made it sound like an updated version of Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" featuring Ja Rule.

According to her, the song deviates from the standards that were expected for the artist, who despite having Victoria Justice and Miranda Cosgrove as closer musical examples, is inspired by "Mariah Carey of the early 2000s".

Sager further states that "While Grande has the vocal cords necessary to record any kind of music she desires, her Nickelodeon background will likely make her talent ring false, and it's unclear whether she'll be able to sell herself as a R&B star".

[7][29] It debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending April 5, 2013, becoming Grande and Miller's first top-ten hit.

This made Grande the first top-ten arrival for a lead female artist making her first Hot 100 appearance since Yael Naim, who launched with "New Soul" back in 2008.

[citation needed] The Spanglish version of "The Way" reached number 5 on Billboard's Latin Pop Songs chart on the week ending August 24, 2013.

Miller was invited on stage before he snuggled on Grande and kissed her hand, as Rap-Up staff opined that the performance was "fun and flirty".

She wore a purple silk dress with "prom-style" jewels and high heels, while accompanied by two backup dancers sporting black.

[47] Writing about the performance, Caitlin White of MTV News noted that Grande appeared "a little nervous" when singing the former song.

[52] From August 6 to 8, 2021, she performed "The Way" as a part of her 14-minute virtual concert setlist during the Rift Tour in the video game Fortnite Battle Royale.

[53][54][55] During the song's performance, Grande's avatar climbs a white staircase to approach a bright light,[56] which Ilana Kaplan of NME described the singer's "enlarged" appearance as "a judge flexing her gavel outside of a courthouse".