Grande battles tears to discuss bombing
Ariana Grande, above, was doing just fine — and then one day in May 2017, a 22-year-old suicide attacker decided to set off bombs at the end of her concert at Manchester Arena, and everything changed.
More than a hundred people were injured, 22 were killed and, though she escaped the worst of it when she got off stage ahead of the blasts, Grande’s life changed forever.
“It’s hard to talk about because so many people have suffered such severe, tremendous loss. But, yeah, it’s a real thing,” the pop star says in the July edition of British Vogue, which features her on the cover.
“I know those families and my fans, and everyone there experienced a tremendous amount of (posttraumatic stress) as well.”
Grande visited victims in the hospital, performed at the One Love Manchester relief concert and offered her love and support a year after the attack. The past year has been transformative — she has a new boyfriend, and a new album due out in July. But the 24-year-old still feels a bit unworthy to comment.
“Time is the biggest thing. I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience — like I shouldn’t even say anything,” Grande told British Vogue. “I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.”
She says even her “anxiety has anxiety” these days, though that’s not entirely a new thing.
“I’ve always had anxiety,” Grande said. “I’ve never really spoken about it because I thought everyone had it, but when I got home from tour, it was the most severe I think it’s ever been.”