Ariana Grande Admits The Manchester Attack Is 'Still So Heavy On My Heart'

With the one-year anniversary of the Manchester bombing approaching, Ariana Grande is focusing on the positive. The "No Tears Left to Cry" singer has opened up in a new Time cover story about her mental health in the aftermath of the tragedy, her upcoming album, and the emotional tribute concert she organized last year.


Grande's manager, Scooter Braun, proposed insight on the latter subject, explaining that Grande flew to Florida to live with her grandmother following the attack happened. Any time if he joined her there, he instructed her that her fans would need her to perform again, yet she was not certain she could.


"She looked at me like I was insane," Braun recalled. "She mentioned, 'I can never sing these songs again. I can't put on these outfits. Don't put me in this position.'" Her tour was promptly suspended, nevertheless just a couple days later, Grande texted Braun that trim had a change of heart. She wrote to him, "If I don't do something, these people died in vain."


Grande and Braun organized One Love Manchester, a star-studded benefit concert that raised more than $12 million for victims and their families. Right now, each year later, the singer is still processing her grief from the attack. She admitted, "Music is supposed to be the safest thing in the world. I think that’s why it’s still so heavy on my heart almost every day. ... It's still very painful."


She mentioned of the attack, "I don’t aspire to give it that much power. 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 be able to see something like that happen and think it won."


Grande sought therapy soon following the attack, and she insists she's finally noticed happiness. That's piece of the reason why she named her upcoming fourth album Sweetener.


whenever you're handed a challenge, alternatively opposed to sitting there and complaining about it, why not attempt to create something cute she mentioned of the name, adding, once I began to take care of myself more, then came balance, and freedom and joy. It poured out into the music."


Her album still doesn't have a release date, although you could bet it'll be a must-listen any time it does arrive. In the meantime, read Grande's full Time cover story here, and check out everything we know about Sweetener.