After the May 22 terrorist attack at her concert in Manchester, Ariana Grande has teamed up with manager Scooter Braun and two of the biggest U.K. promoters to host an event to raise money to support the families of the twenty-two individuals killed and the over one hundred injured in the attack. Titled One Love Manchester, the event will take place at the cricket stadium at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester with the help of producers Live Nation subsidiary Festival Republic and Simon Moran’s SJM Concerts.
In an interview with Billboard, Mark Benn from Festival Republic stated, “The idea to host this event came from Ariana. She was very traumatized after the attack, but it was very important to her to support the victims and show a level of defiance that stands up to this bloodlust and ambivalence towards innocent individuals and tells the terrorists that they are not going to stop us.” After the idea first surfaced on Friday, Braun signed Coldplay to play the festival, then receiving commitments from Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell, Usher, Take That, and Niall Horan.
Ariana’s backing band will perform alongside all of the bands, except for Coldplay, along with Manchester students school choir. In addition, those who purchased tickets to the May 22 show the night of the attack will be given free entry to this event. Ticket sales begin on Thursday at 10 a.m. BST through Ticketmaster. No ticketing fees for the concert will be charged while all net ticket proceeds go towards the We Love Manchester emergency fund. While the event is coming together in less than nine days, Manchester United has already been convinced to move their game 90 minutes earlier that same day, according to Benn. “Manchester United’s Football grounds are about 700 yards from the cricket stadium where the concert will be taking place,” Ben said. “Moving the game took a phenomenal amount of conversation – it’s not easy to move a football match with 70,000 people, especially after all of the tickets are sold.”
The game, honoring midfielder Michael Carrick, now starts at 2:30 p.m. to free up space at the train station for both game attendees and concert fans. As for broadcasting, the concert can be found on BBC TV, BBC Radio, and Capital Radio Networks who are “agreeing to shut down their programming Sunday evening to air the concert,” Benn said. “It’s a phenomenal commitment especially from BBC TV” who is airing the concert live. However, one cannot forget the last concert’s tragedy, making security the utmost important. “The very first call we made was to the chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police—if he had said ‘this can’t happen,’ then it wouldn’t have happened,” Benn stated. “But he instead said the exact opposite and told us, ‘This is an amazing thing that Ariana wants to do and it shows we’re not defeated, we’re standing together united,’ and even though it’s going to be a phenomenal amount of work, he fully embraced the idea.”
It is predicted there will be “more than double the security personnel,” in addition to a commitment from the police that they will “resource this concert to an absolutely full level because they want people to feel safe attending events and visiting Manchester. After cancelling a number of concerts during her Dangerous Woman Tour, this will be Ariana Grande’s first appearance since the May 22. In a letter to her fans, the singer wrote, “My heart, prayers and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones.” Grande promised her fans she would return to the city following the tragedy. “There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better,” Grande said. “However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way.”
