How Ariana Grande Quietly, Powerfully Remembered the Manchester Bombing on Its Anniversary

• To remember the Manchester bombing, Ariana Grande posted a tiny bee on her Instagram Stories (opens in new tab).
• She also reposted her backup dancer's picture of the One Love Manchester concert; she's been open in the past about the impact of what happened, and the special place the city has in her heart.
• Earlier this year, Ariana shared a "terrifying" brain scan showing her PTSD from that event (opens in new tab).

Yesterday was the second anniversary of the deadly terrorist bombing (opens in new tab) at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The explosion killed 22 people and wounded dozens of others, and has had a profound impact on the singer-songwriter-actress. Yesterday and then later in the evening, she took to social media to offer a quiet, powerful statement about the anniversary.

Earlier in the day she posted a photo of a bee—the worker bee is the symbol of Manchester. (Ariana also has a tattoo of a bee (opens in new tab) in memory of the city.) Later on, in a post that's no longer on her Instagram Stories, she re-posted her backup singer Scott Nicholson, who posted a picture (opens in new tab) of the One Love Manchester concert with the caption, "We love and live, everyday, with and for you 🐝💛."

Shortly after the bombing in June 2017, Ariana hosted One Love Manchester with guests including Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, and raised $23 million for the victims and their families. In an interview with ELLE (opens in new tab), she explained, "When I got home from tour, I had really wild dizzy spells, this feeling like I couldn’t breathe." She added, "I would be in a good mood, fine and happy, and they would hit me out of nowhere. I’ve always had anxiety, but it had never been physical before. There were a couple of months straight where I felt so upside down."

Ariana's mom Joan wrote on her Twitter yesterday, "All my love Manchester, today and everyday…you are with me always, in my heart and in my mind. To ALL of you who have suffered and still suffer from tremendous loss, trauma or devastating injury..I love you, I send you a warm hug, today and forever. #OneLove."

Ariana will be performing in August of this year at Manchester to headline their Pride Festival. She revealed the news in February, saying, "Manchester babes, i’m so thrilled to be headlining pride. my heart. I cant wait to see u and I love you so so much." When she'd announced her tour, she hinted that she had something special for the city—which now, obviously, holds a special place in her heart.

Here's her mom's tweet:

Here are the images from her Instagram Stories:

It's quiet, but powerful and beautiful.

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