Ariana Grande Speaks Out About The Manchester Bombing Ahead Of Its One-Year Anniversary
It’s hard to believe that nearly one year has passed since the Manchester bombing outside of Ariana Grande’s concert took place.
As many will recall, a terrorist detonated a bomb on May 22, 2017, as Grande’s concert was letting out of the Manchester Arena in England. E! Online shares that the results of the bombing were horrific with 22 people dead and more than 100 injured. But in a new interview with Time, the 24-year-old is finally speaking out, saying that she is ready to be happy.
The “No Tears Left to Cry” singer says that she made her latest single a song about resilience because following the bombing, she has had to be resilient in ways that are difficult to imagine. As she sobs talking about the incident, Grande says that “the processing part is going to take forever,” but she doesn’t want to focus on something so negative and give it that much power, calling it the “absolute worst of humanity.”
“That’s why I did my best to react the way I did. The last thing I would ever want is for my fans to see something like that happen and think it won.”
Grande goes on to point out that the reason why the tragedy weighs so heavy on her heart is because music is supposed to be so safe. The singer says that she wishes there is more she could fix, noting that it should become easier with time.
“But every day I wait for that peace to come and it’s still very painful.”
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After the attack, Grande flew back home to her grandmother’s house in Boca Raton where her manager, Scooter Braun, met her shortly after. When he suggested to Ariana that they go back to Manchester to do a benefit concert, Ariana looked at him like he was crazy, saying that she can’t sing those songs anymore or put on those outfits anymore.
But soon after, Grande changed her tune and the One Love Manchester show took place. Many of Grande’s friends, including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus, took time out of their busy schedules to join Grande onstage to raise money. In all, the benefit helped to raise $12 million for the victims and victim’s families.
Grande tells Time that she named her new album Sweetener, because when you’re handed a bad situation or challenge, you should try and make something beautiful instead of “sitting there and complaining about it.”
Grande also shared her Time cover on her Instagram page, where her fans were delighted to see the pint-sized pop star on the cover, sharing her story and heartache with the world. In just four hours of the post, the singer has already received 1.2 million likes, as well as 19,000 comments with the overwhelming majority of fans applauding Grande for being so brave.
“I’m crying,” she confesses to the magazine, “but I’m happy.”
