Ariana Grande settles "Who Shot First" Controversy

YouTube

Ariana Grande will return to Manchester to visit her fans and perform a benefit concert to raise funds for victims and families of those affected by this week’s terror attack, the singer announced Friday on social media.

“Our response to this violence must be to come together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before,” she said in a long letter.

Grande said more details of the benefit concert will be revealed once dates and details are confirmed.

Also Read: Ariana Grande Concert Attack Inspires Young Feminists to 'Stand Up to the Fear'

Twenty-two people were killed and 119 were injured after a suicide attacker set off a home-made bomb in England’s Manchester Arena, in an attack that British Prime Minister Theresa May called “appalling” and “sickening.”

Liam Gallagher, frontman of British band Oasis, formed in Manchester in 1991, has also pledged that he will donate the proceeds from his concert at the O2 arena next week to a Red Cross fund set up to help the families of the victims from Monday’s bombing.

Also Read: Ariana Grande's Manager Responds to Manchester Tragedy: 'Am I Angry? Hell Yes.'

During a vigil for the victims earlier this week, a woman began singing the band’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” prompting the crowd to spontaneously join in, and the moment went viral.

“We will continue to honor the ones we lost, their loved ones, my fans and all affected by this tragedy,” Grande concluded her letter. “They will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”

Read her full letter below.

pic.twitter.com/c03xrX3iIv

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 26, 2017

11 Tragedies at Theaters and Concerts, From The Who Stampede to Paris Massacre (Photos)

Cinema Rex fire, Abadan, Iran (Aug. 19, 1978)
Following the Iranian Revolution in 1978, a group of Islamic militants set fire to the Cinema Rex during a showing of "Gavaznha," leaving as many as 400 people dead.
Getty Images
The Who stampede, Cincinnati, Ohio (Dec. 3, 1979)
When the doors at a sold-out The Who concert in Cincinnati did not open on time, 11 people were trampled by a crowd pushing to access the venue.
Getty Images
"The Godfather, Part III" Long Island, New York (Dec. 25, 1990)
On Christmas Day, four moviegoers were caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting that erupted in the middle of a “Godfather” screening. A 15-year-old boy died and three more people were wounded. Four men from Queens were charged for the incident.
Paramount Pictures
Moscow theater hostage crisis Moscow, Russia (Oct. 23, 2002)
In 2002, 40 armed Chechens took 850 hostages at the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow, demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Chechnya. About 130 hostages and all 40 of the attackers were killed by the end of the three-day siege.
Getty Images
Nightclub fire, West Warwick, Rhode Island (Feb. 20, 2003)
In 2003, the Great White's pyrotechnics sparked a fire at a concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island. One hundred people were killed, including guitarist Ty Longley, and more than 200 people were injured.

Also Read: Great White Frontman to Apologize for Deadly 2003 Nightclub Fire in New Documentary (Audio)
Getty Images
Stampede at Love Parade, West Berlin, Germany (July 24, 2010)
A stampede at the German techno music festival Love Parade in 2010 caused the deaths of 11 people and brought an end to the festival for five years. Investigations that followed revealed serious gaps in the crowd management plans, but no criminal charges were brought.
Getty Images
Stage collapse, Indianapolis, Indiana (Aug. 13, 2011)
The stage at a Sugarland concert at the Indiana State Fair in 2011, knocked over by a gust of wind, landed on the waiting crowd. Seven people were killed, with another 58 injured.
Getty Images
"The Dark Night Rises" Aurora, Colorado (July 22, 2012)
On July 22, 2012, James Holmes opened fire during a midnight screening of Christopher Nolan‘s “The Dark Knight Rises.” A Colorado jury found Holmes guilty of killing 12 people and wounding 70 others.
"Trainwreck" Lafayette, Louisiana (July, 23, 2015)
John Russell Houser entered a July 23 screening of the Judd Apatow comedy “Trainwreck” and opened fire with a handgun, injuring at least seven people and killing two, 21-year-old Mayci Breaux of Franklin, Louisiana, and 33-year-old Lafayette resident Jillian Johnson. He took his own life shortly after.
KLFY
Nightclub fire, Bucharest, Romania (Oct. 30, 2015)
A nightclub fire in October 2015, sparked by the pyrotechnic displays of the heavy metal band Goodbye to Gravity, left 27 concertgoers dead and dozens more injured.
Twitter
Bataclan, Paris, France (Nov. 13, 2015)
A series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, killed at least 125 people and wounded hundreds more. Among the attacks was a shooting and hostage crisis at the Bataclan theater where the American band Eagles of Death Metal was playing a show.
Getty Images

1 of 11

As venues rethink their security measures following the hostage crisis at the Bataclan theater, TheWrap looks back at past catastrophes

Cinema Rex fire, Abadan, Iran (Aug. 19, 1978)
Following the Iranian Revolution in 1978, a group of Islamic militants set fire to the Cinema Rex during a showing of "Gavaznha," leaving as many as 400 people dead.

View In Gallery