Ariana Grande and a handful of her very famous friends did not let the terrorists win on Sunday night.
A week after a suicide bomber killed 22 concert attendees in Manchester, and mere hours after another terrorist murdered seven people in London, Grande returned to Great Britain for an event titled "Love Manchester."
Despite this new attack and the severe threat level in the area, Grande’s manager Scooter Braun and the Greater Manchester Police had stated that the show would go on as a message of resilience in the face of such hatred.
The concert offered free tickets to anyone who attended Grande"s show last Monday, while proceeds raised by the event went to families of the victims from that concert.
It was expected to raise around $ 2.6 million.
From Coldplay to Miley Cyrus to Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, the tribute concert was filled with one emotional performance after another.
But Grande herself closed the special event in particularly sentimental fashion.
The 23-year-old – who took to the stage multiple times throughout the three-hour show at the Emirates Old Trafford Stadium – concluded the show solo, belting out a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
It was an emotional time for the artist, who just days earlier had visited some of the victims of the mass murder as they recovered in the hospital.
She also spoke during the show about meeting the mother of one of the Manchester victims, 15-year old Olivia Campbell.
“As soon as I met her I started crying and I gave her a big hug and she said I should stop crying because Olivia would have wanted me to stop crying,” Grande told the crowd as she fought back tears, adding:
“And she said Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits.”
All money earned from the concert are going to the Red Cross’ Manchester Emergency Fund to assist victims of the attack and their families.
An online shop has also been set up with T-shirts, hats and more merchandise.
Considering the speed with which this event was put together, and the big names involved, it was quite the impressive achievement.
Watch Grande wrap up the unique concert below:
