Ariana Grande Pictured With Boyfriend Mac Miller Before Benefit Concert
Ariana Grande touched down Friday in the United Kingdom ahead of her “One Love Manchester” benefit concert in England. The 23-year-old pop star was pictured landing at the London Stansted Airport at 7 a.m. with boyfriend Mac Miller. The rapper recently cancelled a number of obligations to support Grande following the Manchester bombing at her May concert that left 22 people dead and injured dozens more.
Grande was photographed leaving the plane with her 25-year-old beau, both clad in hoodies, as well as her parents, People reported Friday. Her One Love Manchester benefit concert for this weekend sold out in fewer than six minutes Thursday after tickets went on sale. Attendees of her previous May 22 concert, at which the bombing occurred, were offered tickets for free.
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The event boasts a star-studded roster of some of the biggest names in music, including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Pharrell, Usher and Miley Cyrus. People reported that proceeds from the event — which is expected to bring in $2.6 million — will benefit the Red Cross’s Manchester Emergency Fund. A separate fundraising campaign from the Manchester Evening News in partnership with the British Red Cross has already raised £2.22 million (nearly $3 million) for victims and their families.
As International Business Times previously reported, Grande announced the benefit concert in a heartfelt, page-long Twitter message to her fans May 26. “I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and the 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,” she said.
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People reported that a statement from Ticketmaster noted ticket sales for the event “was unsurprisingly met with remarkable demand for One Love Manchester tickets we had on sale this morning – 140,000 fans were on the website and our call centre was buzzing. With over 450,000 searches on our site for One Love Manchester over the last 24 hours, demand was always going to be extremely high.”
Grande wrote in last week’s Twitter message to fans, victims and their families that she had been thinking about them “non stop.” She added, “The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than you'll ever know.”
“The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that you've shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday,” she said. “YOU are the opposite. I am sorry for the pain and fear that you must be feeling and for the trauma that you, too, must be experiencing.”
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