Ariana Grande Reflects On Manchester Bombing Nearly 1 Year Later
Ariana Grande is healing.
Nearly one year after a terrorist detonated a bomb outside her Manchester concert, killing 22 people and injuring more than 500, the 24-year-old singer has found her happiness again.
In an attempt to not exploit the victims of the attack and their families, Ariana was careful with her words when she spoke to Time magazine about the incident that changed her life, and theirs, forever.
“There are so many people who have suffered such loss and pain,” she said through tears. “The processing part is going to take forever.”
While she didn’t want to talk about the attack, saying, “I don’t want to give it that much power.” The “Break Free” singer, who hosted a benefit concert last summer to help victims and their families, did say, “Something so negative. 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,” she added. “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.”
However, the recently crowned Time magazine “Next Generation Leader” did find a form of serenity in the months following the attack. She stayed out of the spotlight working on herself and her new music.
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“I felt more inclined to tap into my feelings because I was spending more time with them,” she said. “I was talking about them more. I was in therapy more.”
“When I started to take care of myself more, then came balance and freedom, and joy,” she continued. “It poured out into the music.”
Last month, the Grammy-nominated singer released the first single, “No Tears Left To Cry,” off her forthcoming album, Sweetener.
While the song is not about what happened, she admitted that what happened is part of the song. Even the music video was made to somewhat parallel her life as she is upside-down for a large part of it — symbolic of how she used to feel.
“We’ve messed with the idea of not being able to find the ground again,” she explained, “because I feel like I’m finally landing back on my feet now.”
While each day brings its own set of difficulties, Ariana said she’s in a good place now.
“I’m crying,” she admitted while wiping tears from her eyes, “but I’m happy.”
What do you think about Ariana’s interview? Sound off in the comments!