US pop star Ariana Grande said on Friday that she will hold a benefit concert in Manchester for the victims of Monday’s suicide bombing at her show in the English city.
Grande, 23, said in a message on her Instagram account that a date for the concert had not yet been worked out.
Monday’s suicide bombing, which killed 22 people and injured more than 100, many of them young people, took place just after Grande had finished performing a concert in the northern English city. She later canceled several future concerts scheduled in London and Europe.
“I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honor of and to raise money for the victims and their families. … I will have details to share with you as soon as everything is confirmed,” Grande wrote in an emotional message.
Grande has a large young female fan base, many of whom were caught up in Monday’s attack by British-born Salman Abedi.
She said that her “Dangerous Woman” concert tour was intended to be a “space for my fans, a place for them to escape, to celebrate, to heal, to feel safe and to be themselves.”
She said the victims would be “on my mind and in my heart everyday … for the rest of my life.”
But she added defiantly; “We will not quit or operate in fear. We won’t let this divide us. We won’t let hate win.”