GABRIELLA FIORINO
In the wake of the sorrow surrounding the recent attacks in Manchester and London, Ariana Grande’s One Love Manchester benefit concert brought positivity to England last Sunday. The show was in response to the May 22nd suicide bombing at Grande’s concert in Manchester Arena, killing twenty-two fans, as reported by Liberty Nation’s Jeff Charles.
Fans were unsure if the Sunday benefit concert would take place, as more terror attacks occurred at London Bridge and Borough Market, killing seven and injuring forty-eight, on the day preceding the show, as found by our LN International Correspondent Onar Åm. Despite their fears, fifty thousand fans attended last Sunday’s concert, including many who were at the May 22nd show, proving their resilience.
Tears from fans and performers accompanied the emotional show, especially during the performance of Grande’s “My Everything” with the Parrs Wood High School Choir. The high school’s twelve-year-old soloist, Natasha Seth, began crying during the rendition, while Grande comforted her with a hug. At the end of the song, Grande called out, “Tonight is all about love.”
Many other celebrities also held emotional performances, including Coldplay, Liam Gallagher, and others. During Coldplay’s performance, the fifty thousand in attendance loudly sang along to “Viva la Vida.” The crowd also erupted and sang along as Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Manchester native Liam Gallagher performed “Live Forever,” dedicated to the deceased Manchester victims.
There was a bit of controversy during the event, as Ariana Grande reportedly made last-minute changes to her set list to include a few of her hits, including “Side to Side” which contains sexual references. Some believed the set list changes to be inappropriate and controversial, as reported by The Telegraph UK Newspaper. However, Grande’s meeting with the mother of Olivia Campbell, a fifteen-year-old victim of the May 22nd attack, inspired the changes to the show. Grande stated that she was in tears hugging Campbell’s mother:
And she said that I should stop crying because Olivia wouldn’t have wanted me to cry. And then she told me that Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits. So that means that [although] we had a totally different show planned… we had a rehearsal yesterday [last Saturday] where we changed everything.
According to the Associated Press, Grande’s concert raised over thirteen million dollars for the British Red Cross. The pop star has also been supporting injured fans and their families from the Manchester attack by visiting victims at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital last Friday. Grande posted pictures on Instagram of her meeting with the victims with the caption “I love you.”
Despite Grande’s earlier Dangerous Woman tour suspension, her website has confirmed that the tour will resume on June 7th in Paris.
