Ariana Grande Has Opened Up About The Manchester Arena Bombing

Ariana Grande has spoken out about the Manchester Arena bombing last May. The terror attack left 22 people dead and hundreds injured. 

 

@arianagrande is happy, and it’s important to her that people know that. At 24, Grande is one of the biggest pop stars in the world, and she’s coming out with new music two years after her last album, the blockbuster Dangerous Woman. Her latest single is called “No Tears Left to Cry,” a triumphant, ’90s-house-inflected pop confection, part breathy vocals and part spunky, spoken-word playfulness. She chose it carefully: “The intro is slow, and then it picks up,” she says. “And it’s about picking things up.” Grande made a song about resilience because she has had to be resilient, in ways that are difficult to imagine, after a terrorist detonated a bomb outside her May 22, 2017, concert in Manchester, England, killing 22 people and leaving more than 500 injured. What happened is part of the song, but the song is not about what happened. Instead of being elegiac, it’s joyful and lush, and Grande is proud of it, and of herself. “When I started to take care of myself more, then came balance, and freedom, and joy,” she says. “It poured out into the music.” In the video for the song, she’s upside-down, the way life used to feel. “We’ve messed with the idea of not being able to find the ground again,” she says, “because I feel like I’m finally landing back on my feet now.” #ArianaGrande is one of three International covers showcasing the Next Generation Leaders. Read more about the rising activists, artists and athletes who are reshaping music, sports, fashion, politics and more on TIME.com. Photograph by @jimmymarble for TIME

A post shared by TIME (@time) on May 17, 2018 at 8:51am PDT

Ariana hasn't spoken much about the incident, and after the One Love Manchester gig, she kept a low profile. 

Time Magazine journalist Sam Lansky, said that Ariana struggled to talk about it. 

'She knows I am going to ask her about this before I have even said the words. She can see it in my eyes, and I can see it in hers, and she begins to cry—not graceful tears, but deep, choking sobs. 'I’m sorry' she says. 'I’ll do my best.'

Ariana really struggled when attempting to open up about the tragic events. 

'There are so many people who have suffered such loss and pain. The processing part is going to take forever. I don’t want to give it that much power – something so negative. It’s the absolute worst of humanity.'

You can read Ariana's full interview here.