NEW YORK: Pop star Ariana Grande promised Friday to return to Manchester to play a charity concert following a suicide attack at her show, as she urged fans to respond to the tragedy with love.
In her first substantive comments since Monday’s tragedy, the singer said she felt “uplift” by seeing fans’ compassion after the blast which killed 22 people and was claimed by the Daesh group.
The 23-year-old, who suspended her tour and returned to her Florida home to rest, said she planned a concert as “an expression of love for Manchester.”
She said that the concert would raise money for the victims of the attack and their families. The date has not yet been set.
“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 in an essay posted on her social media accounts.
“We won’t let this divide us. We won’t let hate win,” she said.
Grande, whose fan base is dominated by girls and young women, said she had seen a “beautiful, diverse, pure, happy crowd.”
She said that she viewed her concerts as places for her fans “to escape, to celebrate, to heal, to feel safe and to be themselves.”
“This will not change,” she said.
Grande canceled two weeks of concerts, including two shows in London, after the attacks. She flew home on Tuesday after releasing a brief message saying she felt “broken.”
She plans to resume her “Dangerous Woman” tour in Paris on June 7.
Ariana Grande plans show for Manchester victims
Ariana Grande plans show for Manchester victims
