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Music

A Fan Campaign Has Sent Ariana Grande to the Top of the UK iTunes Chart

Plus, her manager Scooter Braun has shared a message of strength in the wake of the Manchester bombing.

We find comfort where we can. After Monday night's suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena – which killed 22 people and injured more than 50 – poignant videos of Grande's performance of "One Last Time" emerged online. In them, the crowd in the arena sang along while Grande held out her mic towards them:

Since, Ariana's fans have launched a campaign to get the track to number one on iTunes in the UK, in memory of all those who were killed and injured at the end of the event. In a testament to the power of fandom, the song now tops the chart. The song is now also due to re-enter the UK singles chart top 40.

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Though Ariana herself has understandably remained quiet since the horrific events of the night unfolded – save for one tweet the night of the atrocity – her manager Scooter Braun spoke out last night via Twitter, with a message of defiance and strength in the face of the terror:

Tonight I got home and took my parents out to dinner. Korean bbq. We drank and ate and laughed with the tables next to us. I experienced joy […] I experienced joy for the first time in days. And I remembered…we are free. We are all different but we are free to enjoy each other's company. I will honour those that are lost by living each day full. Full of fun, full of laughter, full of joy. I welcome the differences of my neighbour. the wish of terrorism is to take away that feeling of freedom and joy. No. That is my answer. No. We cant allow it. Fear cannot rule the day […] Manchester I stand with you. Jakarta I stand with u..children of Syria I stand with you. We will honour you by not giving in to the darkness. So if you think you scared us…if you think your cowardice act made us change how we live…sorry. All you did was make us appreciate every day. I will honour all of you by laughing loving and living. Living full for every wonderful innocent child whose life was taken too soon. Am I angry? Hell yes. But how will we respond? With everything you think you took from us… love and joy and life!

It's a heartening message in the face of unspeakable tragedy, and this combined with the solidarity shown by the fans will hopefully offer comfort to all those who are in need of it right now.

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(Image via Wikimedia Commons)