Ariana Grande has a message of solidarity for her fans affected by the Manchester Arena bombing, which took place almost three years ago.
“I want to take a moment to acknowledge and send my love to everyone that is feeling the sadness and tremendous heaviness of the anniversary coming up this week,” Ari wrote on her Instagram Story Wednesday (May 20), “not a day goes by that this doesn’t affect u and all of us still. i will be thinking of u all week and weekend.”
“My heart, thoughts, prayers are with u always,” she concluded, and added a black heart and a bee emoji.
The bee originally represented Manchester’s industrial past, but has since become symbol of hope in the wake of the tragedy.
On May 22, 2017, Ari had just finished playing at the Manchester Arena when a terrorist detonated a homemade explosive device just outside the venue. The attack killed 22 people and injured hundreds of concertgoers.
The following month, Ari hosted One Love Manchester benefit concert, which raised millions of dollars for the victims and their families through the Red Cross. Justin Bieber, Pharrell Williams, Little Mix, Mac Miller, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, The Black Eyed Peas, Liam Gallagher and more performed at the event.
The pop star later shared that she suffered PTSD from the scary incident. She returned to the city for the first time in two years to headline Manchester Pride festival in August of last year.
In March, the bomber’s younger brother was convicted of murder for his role in the attack – he conspired with his brother to cause explosions. However, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, sentencing has been postponed to a later date.
In other Ariana news…
Ari recently teamed up with her long-time friend, Justin Bieber, to release a new single “Stuck With U.” The duet aims to raise funds the children of first responders – including health care workers, EMTs, paramedics, police officers and firefighters on the front lines – who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Net proceeds will go toward funding grants and scholarships through a partnership with First Responders Children’s Foundation and their manager, Scooter Braun’s, SB Projects.
The duet just hit the number one spot on the Billboard charts. However, 6ix9ine, whose track “Gooba” landed the number three spot, went on Instagram on Saturday (May 16) and suggested Billboard may have rigged the chart’s top spot in Ari and Justin’s favor.
“I’ll be real disappointed if Billboard gets paid for number ones, somehow manipulates the charts,” he said in a video posted on Instagram. “Last night—which is completely illegal—last night, last second, last hour, “Stuck With U” by Ariana Grande submits 60,000 units out of nowhere. Completely out of nowhere.”
Ari has since refuted the allegations, but did not name names.
“My fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). they are ride or die motherfuckers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
“To anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason…..), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself,” she continued.
Justin also chimed in on his Instagram Story.
“All our sales were legit because our fans are amazing and bought them. Don’t discredit our fan base with false info,” he wrote. “This is my song with Ariana Grande and I’m honored to work with her to help raise money for a great cause. If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it’s our song.”
Billboard has also published an article in response to the allegations: How Billboard Came to Its Calculations in This Week’s Race For the Hot 100 No. 1
