Ariana Grande to bring arena tour to Birmingham this weekend
She’ll forever be associated with the catastrophic events that took place at Manchester Arena.
Ariana Grande had just performed a stunning gig at Manchester Arena on May 22 when a radical terrorist detonated a bomb, killing 23 and injuring 139.
Most of the victims were children and hundreds more suffered psychological trauma.
Grande had been performing as part of her Dangerous Woman Tour to an audience of 14,200 when the attack took place.
The star expressed her shock on Twitter, writing: “broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”
She returned, of course. The former child star featured at One Love Manchester soon afterwards with a line-up featuring Justin Bieber, the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Mac Miller, Marcus Mumford, Niall Horan, Little Mix, Katy Perry, Take That, Imogen Heap, Pharrell Williams, Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher.
And in doing so, the nation took her to its heart. “England took something that portrays the absolute worst of humanity and turned it into something that portrays the best,” she says, thoughtfully.
“It’s just as much as time passes, and as much time you try to spend processing it, I don’t think one will ever know how to really, fully process it... I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to burst into tears.
“I have always loved England. I don’t think there are enough words to describe my love and adoration for the people of Manchester.
“Harry Styles had a concert coming up in Manchester and I know some of my fans were going, and it was their first time going to a concert in that venue since mine.
“I was so proud of how they were interacting with one another and caring for one another...”
In an interview with Vogue, Grande said: “I think about certain interactions that I had with people when I was there all the time and I wonder how they’re doing.
"You know, Saffie’s (Roussos’s) father. I check in with Millie [Robson, 15 at the time] often on Twitter. It’s a real thing.
"I know those families and my fans, and everyone there experienced a tremendous amount of it as well. Time is the biggest thing.
"I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience — like I shouldn’t even say anything. I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.”
Grande isn’t the only big name star in town this week.
Muse return to Birmingham Arena on Tuesday with their new show, Simulation, which was described by The Guardian as ‘a dizzying rock spectacle for the machine age.
