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Ariana Grande Opens Up About The Manchester Terror Attack & My Heart Hurts For Her

ArianaĀ Grandeā€™s public appearances and interviews have been limited since the Manchester terror attack that took place outside one of her shows in 2017 andĀ killed 23 people.

Appearing on the cover of TheĀ Fader‘s summer issue, ArianaĀ opened up aboutĀ the much-need time sheĀ took to recover following the attack. She traveledĀ back to her childhood home in Boca Raton, FL, andĀ attended therapy sessions, which she says has ā€œhelped me deal with so much. I think itā€™s great for everybody. Especially in this regard. Therapy is the best. It really is.ā€

Despite taking time for herself, Ariana didnā€™t give upĀ entirely: she continued her Dangerous Woman tour after a short suspension, and also organized and put on the One Love Manchester benefit show with co-headliners Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, and more. Ariana famously closed the show with a stunning and tear-filled rendition of ā€œOver the Rainbow,ā€ which she revealed was her grandfatherā€™s favorite song. ā€œHe would always tell me to sing it in my concerts,ā€ she said. ā€œAnd I never did until that moment. When I was getting ready to do it, I was thinking about him and I felt his presence so heavily around me. He was the person I was closest to in my life.ā€

She also used her experience to help those in similar situations, spending time with the Parkland shooting survivors in Los Angeles and talking to them about recovering from tragedy, according to TheĀ Fader.

Ariana is undeniably strong and kindhearted for doing all of these things for others while undergoing her own emotional trauma. She told TheĀ Fader that sheā€™ll never entirely recover from Manchester.Ā “I guess I thought with time, and therapy, and writing, and pouring my heart out, and talking to my friends and family that it would be easier to talk about, but it’s still so hard to find the words,” she explained.Ā “When you’re so close to something so tragic and terrifying and opposite of what music concerts are supposed to be, it kind of leaves you without any ground beneath your feet.”

Still, Ariana is optimistic for the future. Her single ā€œNo Tears Left to Cryā€ has been the subject of much praise, and sheā€™s working with big names like Pharrell, Max Martin, and Nicki Minaj, who remains a close friend of hers.

Her next album, Sweetener, drops in August, and it looks like itā€™ll be filled with vulnerable lyrics and the delectable pop perfection Ariana has been supplying us with since the start of her career. She tellsĀ TheĀ FaderĀ her experiences over the last couple of years, especially the Manchester attack, influenced her new sound.Ā ā€œIā€™ve always just been like a shiny, singing, 5-6-7-8, sexy-dance…sexy thing,ā€ she said. ā€œBut now itā€™s like, ā€˜OK, issa bopā€”but issa message. Issa bop but also has chunks of my soul in it. Here you go. Also, I cried 10 hundred times in the session writing it for you. Here is my bleeding heart, and here is a trap beat behind it.ā€™ Thereā€™s definitely some crying-on-the-dancefloor stuff on this one.ā€

I canā€™t wait to hear the new album, and I am proud of Ariana for the growth she has achieved and the growth she will continue to do.

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Erica Kam is the Life Editor at Her Campus. She oversees the life, career, and news verticals on the site, including academics, experience, high school, money, work, and Her20s coverage. Over her six years at Her Campus, Erica has served in various editorial roles on the national team, including as the previous Culture Editor and as an editorial intern. She has also interned at Bustle Digital Group, where she covered entertainment news for Bustle and Elite Daily. She graduated in 2021 with a bachelorā€™s degree in English and creative writing from Barnard College, where she was the senior editor of Columbia and Barnardā€™s Her Campus chapter and a deputy copy editor for The Columbia Spectator. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her dissecting K-pop music videos for easter eggs and rereading Jane Austen novels. She also loves exploring her home, the best city in the world ā€” and if you think that's not NYC, she's willing to fight you on it.