Katy Perry choked up while paying tribute to the victims of the terror attack at Ariana Grande’s Monday, May 22, Manchester concert.
The “Chained to the Rhythm” singer, 32, was playing to an intimate crowd at London’s Water Rats pub on Thursday, May 25, when she addressed the bombing. “It was hard. It was hard for you guys, I know that. It was hard for me because we all love music. We’re listening to the same music,” she said through tears. “You think about it, and you think that’s my friend, that’s my sister, that’s my brother, that’s my cousin, that’s the person that loves music. It’s awful, it’s awful, it’s awful.”
She urged her fans to help those affected by the terrible incident. “And whatever you can do to help, you should, and if you can’t do anything, that’s fine. But what you should do is not let them win. I want to sing this next song for them,” she said of the victims. “They can never take that part away from us ever.” Perry and other musicians such as Celine Dion, Kiss and Shawn Mendes are continuing to perform in Europe, while some artists have postponed their shows.
“If you can’t do anything to help that’s fine, but what you should do, is not let them win.” Beautifully said, @KatyPerry ? #WeStandTogether pic.twitter.com/XWaKF4dhxB
— Capital (@CapitalOfficial) May 25, 2017
Perry, who is headlining Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival in the U.K. this weekend, asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence before performing “Part of Me” in tribute to the 22 people killed and at least 59 injured in the attack.
The pop star previously tweeted about the Manchester bombing on Monday. “Praying for everyone at @ArianaGrande’s show,” she wrote. “Broken hearted for the families tonight. Broken hearted for Ari. Broken hearted for the state of this world.”
As previously reported, the explosion happened near one of the exits of Manchester Arena as fans were leaving Grande’s Dangerous Woman tour. The suicide bomber was later identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, and by Friday, May 26, police made 10 arrests in connection with the attack.
