Singer Ariana Grande to Become ‘Honorary Citizen’ of Manchester After Concert Bombing

LONDON (AP) – Manchester officials say they are making U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande an honorary citizen of the city because of her response to the deadly concert attack in May.

City council leader Richard Leese proposed the move, describing the 23-year-old singer as “a young American woman for whom it would have been understandable if she never wanted to see this place again.”

He said instead, Grande “brought comfort to thousands and raised millions” for an emergency fund when she returned to headline the One Love Manchester benefit concert in June.

Other council officials in the northwest English city voted Wednesday to back the proposal.

Bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people on May 22 when he detonated a bomb at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by Grande.