10:45 a.m. ET June 4, 2017 LONDON (AP) — Pop star Ariana Grande surprised young fans injured in the Manchester Arena attack, hugging the thrilled little girls in their hospital beds as they recovered from injuries sustained in the May 22 suicide bombing.
The attack at Grande's concert last week killed 22 people and injured dozens of others, many of them teenagers. The singer returned to Britain on Friday ahead of a concert to benefit victims and their families.
Grande shared an image from her visit to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital with her 107 million Instagram followers. The caption was simply a heart.
Others touched by the visit posted pictures on social media, including a group shot with Grande among the nurses caring for the children hurt in the blast.
Peter Mann, whose daughter Jaden was injured in the attack, posted several photos of Grande and the youngster on Facebook.
"So happy she came I could burst!" he wrote. "Never seen Jaden so happy! Even cried again myself."
Tasha Hough also shared photos of Jaden and Grande on social media.
"I think she's a little star struck. No1 deserves this more than her. That smile! And what a lovely girl Ariana Grande is."
Grande will be joined by a number of pop stars for the One Love Manchester concert on Sunday, including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Take That and Miley Cyrus. It will be televised live on Freeform in the United States and a highlights package will follow the NBA playoff game that night on ABC.
The show went on. And it turned into a defiant party with a message for those who would seek to divide us.
Fifty thousand people joined Ariana Grande, the Black Eyed Peas, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and more of the world’s biggest musical superstars for an emotional but ultimately spirited and uplifting concert here Sunday to raise money for the victims and families of the Manchester bomb attack that took place less than two weeks ago.
It was Grande’s first performance since the May 22 attack, which left 22 dead and more than 100 injured as they exited the singer’s concert at Manchester Arena. The youngest victim was 8. The concert took place despite a terror attack 200 miles away that killed seven in London on Saturday night. More than $2.5 million was donated during the three-hour show.
"We came to show our respect, not just for Manchester (but) also for London," said Jason Geal, who was attending with his wife and daughters. The Geals were in the audience during Grande's performance at Manchester Arena last month. "We need to show we are not scared," he said, before joining his family in a frenzied round of selfie-taking.
Summer was in the air and the concert had an atmosphere reminiscent of an outdoor music festival. There was beer and ice cream in ample supply and stalls selling T-shirts and other band paraphernalia. Families mixed with teenagers and young adults and groups of girls in bunny ears linked arms and sang along to their favorite songs.
"Oh, my God!" could be heard over and over again out the mouths of adoring fans.
Perhaps one of the most touching moments came when a police officer joined hands with a group of children and skipped in a circle as Bieber performed.
The message was made clear repeatedly at the all-star benefit: Whether Manchester, London, Paris or Orlando, the terrorists won't win.
Wearing jeans and a sweatshirt emblazoned "One Love Manchester," Grande bounced around the stage and never appeared to stand still for very long. It looked like she fought back tears once or twice, but on the whole she was upbeat and energetic. "Manchester, I love you so, so much," she said on several occasions.
She fully broke down only once, when she ended the show with a version of Over the Rainbow, Judy Garland's signature ballad.
Thousands of people, some as young as 5 or 6, sang along, danced, wiggled and got a little weepy at times, but ultimately found, as Grande’s manager Scooter Braun put it ahead of the event, a “greater purpose” in honoring and celebrating those who lost their lives to terrorism.
On stage Sunday, Braun paid tribute to the fans who turned out just hours after the London attack. "Manchester looked fear right in the face and said, 'No, we are Manchester,' and all the world is watching," he said. "Manchester, your bravery is our hope."
Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Coldplay and One Direction’s Niall Horan also performed and received rapturous welcomes from fans.
Each act sang a few songs and children from the Parrs Wood High School Choir performed a duet with Grande on My Everything. Two members of the choir were in the audience on May 22. One of the choir girls, a 12-year-old soloist, received a hug from Grande when she started crying on stage.
The show was held at the Old Trafford cricket stadium, just under four miles from Manchester Arena. It was broadcast live on BBC radio and television and streamed around the world. Hundreds of millions of people from more than 50 countries were expected to watch the concert in some format.
