Today marks a somber anniversary: One year ago, a pair of explosions went off at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, resulting in multiple deaths and even more injuries. Understandably, the event had a significant impact on Grande: She canceled tour dates, shared a heartfelt reaction to the tragedy, and had largely stayed out of the public eye for the past year before making her return last month with the single “No Tears Left To Cry.”
Now, Grande, who was previously made the first ever honorary citizen of Manchester, has shared a brief statement about the bombing, writing on Twitter, “Thinking of you all today and every day. I love you with all of me and am sending you all of the light and warmth I have to offer on this challenging day.” The tweet also included a bee emoji, since the insect is a common symbol representing the city’s hard-working history.
https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/998788066629300224
She also spoke about the attack in more depth in an interview with Time that was published last week, saying that dealing with what happened is still very difficult for her:
“There are so many people who have suffered such loss and pain. The processing part is going to take forever. […] It’s the absolute worst of humanity. That’s why I did my best to react the way I did. The last thing I would ever want is for my fans to see something like that happen and think it won.
Music is supposed to be the safest thing in the world. I think that’s why it’s still so heavy on my heart every single day. I wish there was more that I could fix. You think with time it’ll become easier to talk about. Or you’ll make peace with it. But every day I wait for that peace to come and it’s still very painful.”
Despite the inherent sadness of today, Grande also has something to be happy about, since she’s reportedly dating Saturday Night Live‘s Pete Davidson.
