Ariana Grande resumes European tour in Paris after Manchester terrorist attack
Ariana Grande performing in her One Love Manchester benefit concert in England on June 4, 2017. Credit: Getty Images / Dave Hogan for One Love Manchester
Following the terrorist bombing last month that caused her to postpone her concert tour, singer Ariana Grande resumed her performance schedule with a show Wednesday night in Paris.
“First show back tonight. Thinking of our angels every step of the way. I love you with all my heart,” the 23-year-old, who had already headlined a benefit concert Sunday, posted on Instagram, along with a photo of the Eiffel Tower. “Grateful for and incredibly proud of my band, dancers and entire crew. I love you I love you.”
“Merci, Paris ♡ Je t’aime. Grateful to be back,” the “Side to Side” singer added in a subsequent Instagram message, alongside a photo of herself onstage. Thursday morning, she posted a black-and-white video shot evidently taken by fans in the first row, showing Grande holding three outstretched hands as she sings. The three posts have garnered nearly 3 million views each.
Grande performed her hits, but also added her new charity single “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” according to the BBC. Her boyfriend, Mac Miller, joined her for a duet of “Dang!” and “The Way.”
French police said prior to the show that they were tightening security due to the show’s “powerful symbolic context,” the BBC reports. Concertgoers had to go through extra screenings, including individual pat-downs, before entering the AccorHotels Arena.
On May 24, two days after the bombing at the conclusion of Grande’s Manchester Arena show in England, her management announced Grande was suspending her tour, affecting two shows each in London, England, and in Lodz, Poland, and one each in Antwerp, Belgium; Frankfurt, Germany; and Zurich, Switzerland, through June 5. Grande’s next scheduled shows were Wednesday in Paris and Friday in Lyon, France.
The “Dangerous Woman” tour is set to run through Sept. 21, concluding in Hong Kong, not counting any possible makeup dates. No remaining shows were scheduled for the United States.
Grande organized the One Love Manchester benefit concert Sunday at the 50,000-capacity Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground in Greater Manchester. The British Red Cross said the show, which included Justin Bieber, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Katy Perry, Pharrell, Take That and others, raised more than £2.35 million, or just over $3 million, for victims of the bombing, in which 22 were killed and at least 119 injured. The charity said it had raised more than £10 million ($13 million) overall for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.
