Pop star Ariana Grande has vowed to perform in Manchester, England again after a suicide bomber killed 22 people and left over a hundred more injured Monday night.
In a lengthy Twitter message posted Friday, the “Side to Side” singer offered condolences to the victims of the terror attack and promised to return to perform a benefit concert to raise money for the victims and their families.
“My heart, prayers and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones,” the note began. “There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better.”
Grande said her “Dangerous Woman” tour was meant to be a “safe space” for her fans, adding that Monday’s attack “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 wrote.
“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,” Grande continued, urging her fans to respond to the bombing with love. “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.”
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 26, 2017
Salman Abedi — a Libyan-born British citizen, who reportedly had been known to the country’s security services — detonated a nail bomb at an exit to the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena as fans existed Grande’s concert.
British authorities have arrested several suspects in connection with the deadly, ISIS-inspired bombing.
On Wednesday, Grande’s manager Scooter Braun took to Twitter and shared his own response to the deadly terror attack, urging his followers to respond with “love and joy.”
“Manchester I stand with you. Jakarta I stand with u.. children of Syria I stand with you. We will honor you by not giving in to the darkness. With extraordinary evil we must fight with extraordinary greatness. Fight on,” Braun wrote.
Manchester I stand with you. Jakarta I stand with u..children of Syria I stand with you. We will honor you by not giving in to the darkness
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) May 25, 2017
While Grande has planned a return to Manchester, other bands, including rock band KISS, have cancelled performances in the city. The WWE has cancelled a planned event in Manchester, citing Monday’s attack. Earlier this week, the London premieres of Universal Pictures’ The Mummy and Warner Bros. Wonder Woman were also cancelled.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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