Grande: We won't let hate win
US pop star Ariana Grande said last Friday that she will hold a benefit concert in Manchester for the victims of last Monday's suicide bombing at her show in the English city.
The 23-year-old said in a message on her Instagram account that a date for the concert had not yet been worked out.
The tragedy, which killed 22 people and injured more than 100, many of them young people, took place just after Grande had finished performing.
She later cancelled several concerts scheduled in London and Europe through June 5.
"I'll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honour of and to raise money for the victims and their families... I will have details to share with you as soon as everything is confirmed," Grande wrote.
She also tweeted a link to a fund-raising site for the victims by the Manchester Evening News, which has so far brought in some £1.7 million (S$3 million).
Grande tweeted after the bombing that she was "broken" by the attack by British-born Salman Abedi which was claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. She returned to her Florida home last Tuesday.
In her Instagram posting, she said that her Dangerous Woman concert tour was intended to be a "space for my fans, a place for them to escape, to celebrate, to heal, to feel safe and to be themselves". She said the victims would be "on my mind and in my heart every day... for the rest of my life".
But she added defiantly: "We will not quit or operate in fear. We won't let this divide us. We won't let hate win."
- REUTERS
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