Two years after a deadly terrorist attack was carried out following her concert in Manchester, England, Ariana Grande is returning to the British city as a headlining act.
The "Thank U, Next" singer will headline Manchester Pride 2019 at a new 9,000-capacity outdoor venue, which is situated at an old railway depot on August 25, the BBC announced.
"manchester babes, i'm so thrilled to be headlining pride. my heart. i cant wait to see u and i love u so so much," she tweeted on Monday morning. She later added, "we are still working on something a little more special for you guys. it takes a while to put these things together but hopefully i can tell you when i see you at pride. i love u. hope that's alright."
Ariana's name will forever be linked (and inked) to Manchester. On May 22, 2017, a suicide attack was carried out at the Manchester Arena as her show let out. The attack killed 22 people and injured hundreds more.
She returned to Manchester several weeks later to headline the One Love show, which raised money for the victims' families.
Last June, the singer was offered an honorary citizenship of Manchester by the city council.
Immediately following the bombing, Ariana tweeted that she was "broken." Her longtime manager, Scooter Braun, said Ariana "cried for days" following the attack.
In a chat with Ebro Darden on Beats 1 Radio last August, Ariana spoke about being "permanently affected" by the events of that terrible evening.
"You try not to give into fear because obviously that's the whole point of being here. That's the whole point of finishing my tour is to set an example to my fans who are fearless enough to show up to the [expletive]ing shows. Like, are you kidding?," she said. "You want to set the same example and keep going. You want to not be afraid because, of course, that's what they want if you give them that then they've won."
Since that day, Ariana has ramped up her security team.
"The truth is that it's f—ing scary going anywhere and you look at places differently and traveling. I don't like to have security come with me everywhere, I don't like to do those things, it makes me feel [inhuman] and weird," she said. "I know people are just trying to take care of me but I want to escape with my friends, run around and be free. But you think about it differently when s— like that happens… You don't want to give in and be afraid but it's still there."