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Image: Ariana Grande via Instagram
Ariana Grande has written a letter to her fans in the wake of the tragedy at her concert in Manchester this week, where 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber.
In the essay shared on her Instagram and Twitter accounts, Ariana revealed she’s planning a benefit concert in Manchester to honour the victims and raise money for their families.
“My heart, prayers, and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better,” she began. “However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way. The only thing we can do now is choose how we let this affect us and how we live our lives from here on out.”
“I am sorry for the pain and fear that you must be feeling and for the trauma that you, too, must be experiencing,” she continued.
“We will never be able to understand why events like this take place because it is not in our nature, which is why we shouldn’t recoil. We will not quit or operate in fear. We won’t let this divide us. We won’t let hate win.”
Grande then revealed her plans to return to Manchester to perform a benefit concert.
“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 to live more kindly and generously than we did before,” she said.
“I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honor of and to raise money for the victims and their families.
“I want to thank my fellow musicians and friends for reaching out to be a part of our expression of love for Manchester. I will have details to share with you as soon as everything is confirmed.”
Image: Ariana Grande via Instagram
The Side To Side singer said the attack on her and her fans was the exact opposite of what she wanted her Dangerous Woman tour to be – a place for them to feel safe and be carefree.
“From the day we started putting the Dangerous Woman Tour together, I said that this show, more than anything else, was intended to be a safe space for my fans.
“A place for them to escape, to celebrate, to heal, to feel safe and to be themselves. To meet their friends they’ve made online. To express themselves. This will not change that.
“When you look into the audience at my shows, you see a beautiful, diverse, pure, happy crowd. Thousands of people, incredibly different, all there for the same reason, music.”
She urged people to find comfort in music following the attack.
“Music is something that everyone on Earth can share. Music is meant to heal us, to bring us together, to make us happy. So that is what it will continue to do for us.
“We will continue in honor of the ones we lost, their loved ones, my fans, and all affected by this tragedy. They will be on my mind and in my heart every day and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”
Grande cancelled scheduled shows in London and some European cities in the next week. It has not been confirmed whether the Dangerous Woman tour will continue.
