Ariana Grande has pledged that she will perform a fundraising benefit show in Manchester in honour of the victims of the May 22 Manchester Arena attack. The announcement was made as part of her first detailed communication to the public following the explosion that killed 22 people and left 59 others injured.
Speaking in a statement posted on her Twitter account, Grande said: “I don’t want to go the rest of the year without being able to see and hold and uplift my fans, the same way they continue to uplift me. Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and live more kindly and generously than we did before. I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honour of and to raise money for the victims and their families.”
At the time of writing the date of the benefit show has yet to be confirmed, but Grande has urged people to make donations to the JustGiving account set up to raise £2,000,000 to support families of those killed and injured in the Manchester attacks. You can donate here.
In the statement, Grande also hailed her fans and fellow musicians for giving her strength in the wake of the attack: “I have been thinking of my fans and of you all non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than you'll ever know. The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that you've shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday. YOU are the opposite. I am sorry for the pain and fear that you must be feeling and for the trauma that you, too, must be experiencing."
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