It’s been a week now since the horrific events that took place at Manchester, wherein the city’s Arena was the target of an apparent terrorist suicide bombing. The victims were from a crowd of concertgoers exciting Manchester Arena following the first of three UK concerts by American singer Ariana Grande for her “Dangerous Woman” album tour.

She herself had already departed at the time, but news of the loss of life and injuries have spurred her to cancel the rest of her tour and return to the US, where she sent messages of condolences and solidarity with Manchester.

And last Friday Grande intimated that she might do one even better, by returning to the city shortly to perform once more in a Benefit Concert.

Back to where it happened

Last May 26 Ariana Grande posted an open letter on her Twitter page. In it, she expressed gratitude to her friends and fellows in the music industry for joining her in expressing support to the people of Manchester and the casualties of the attack.

Grande then declared that she would be returning to the city to “spend time” with her fans, as well as to hold a benefit performance both to honor those who were hurt and killed in the terror attack but to raise money for their families. The singer told her fellow musicians that she would share some details about her plans “as soon as everything is confirmed.”

Ariana also thanked her fans for their positive response; for instance, a multitude of “Arianators” flocked to an online campaign for the Manchester victims that had been shared by their idol, and went on to donate upwards of $2 million for the benefit of the families of the dead and wounded, which number 22 and over 60 respectively at last count.

Encouragement for Manchester

Other contents of Ariana Grande’s open letter were an exhortation to her fans, but most especially the ones in Manchester. “We will not quit or operate in fear, we won’t let this divide us, we won’t let hate win,” the singer wrote. "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."

Shortly after returning stateside, Ariana had secluded herself in her Florida hometown of Boca Raton as news of the attack spread. Her management announced May 24 that all of her “Dangerous Woman” concerts dates all the way to June 5 were canceled, with no update one when the tour might resume, if ever.
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