Ariana Grande has opened up recently about how she has been affected by the suicide bombing that took place at one of her concerts at Manchester Arena last year, killing 23 people including the bomber himself. It has now been a year since the attack, but the singer says that it is “still so heavy on [her] heart.” To mark the first anniversary of the bombing, the survivors have gotten together in Manchester to remember those who were lost on that night.
Immediately after the attack, Grande flew to Florida to stay with her grandmother where she felt comfortable.
As her manager Scooter Braun remembers, she wasn’t sure if she would ever perform again. She was so shaken by the attack that she couldn’t imagine herself ever singing the same songs she had sung that night or wearing the same outfits.
The One Love Manchester charity concert grew out of this anxiety
It wasn’t until a few days later, after she’d had time to reflect and think about her next course of action, that Grande changed her mind and decided to take action. She texted Braun to say, “If I don’t do something, these people died in vain.” They swiftly organised the One Love Manchester benefit concert that raised a whopping $12 million for the cause, which went straight to the victims and their families.