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It’s been four years since Ariana Grande hosted the One Love concert
But what happened to the funds raised from the benefit gig?
Today marks four years since Ariana Grande hosted the One Love Manchester concert in the wake of the devastating Manchester Arena bombing.
Just weeks after a suicide bomber launched an attack in the foyer of the arena following her performance on May 22nd, 2017, the pop star returned to the city to host the One Love Manchester benefit concert in a bid to raise money for the survivors and families affected by the atrocity.
The benefit gig, held at Manchester’s Old Trafford cricket ground, saw some of the biggest names in music assemble alongside the then twenty-three-year-old singer to put on a show in memory of the twenty-two people who had lost their lives in the attack.
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Miley Cyrus, Little Mix, Robbie Williams, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Liam Gallagher were among the artists to join Ariana during the the three hour-long concert, which was attended by a 55,000 strong audience.
Yet, despite the event taking place during one of Manchester’s darkest moments, the concert was undeniably a joyous occasion – a true testament to the city’s resilience and sense of community.
There were many memorable moments from the evening – as the concert went underway, a police officer was filmed on BBC News dancing with a group of children towards the back of the crowd. PC Paul Taylor was seen linking arms with a group of fans and dancing in a circle during Justin Bieber’s performance.
“I had posed for a picture with these two young girls who were with their mum, and they asked if I’d like to dance,” he explained. “I can’t remember what was playing at the time, I think it may have been Justin Bieber. Since the clip went viral my phone hasn’t stopped ringing!”
A choir from Parrs Wood High School in Didsbury became another memorable feature of the event, with two of the choir members actually being survivors from the attack. The school students joined Ariana for an emotional performance of her song ‘My Everything,’ leaving the singer and the rest of the audience in tears.
At one point, one of the choir girls became visibly upset, leading Ariana to embrace her as she continued with the rendition.
Shortly after the event took place, it was revealed that a staggering £18 million had been raised for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, a charity established by the Manchester City Council and the British Red Cross, from both the ticket sales and donations from members of the public watching at home.
Ariana also donated all proceeds to the fund from a re-release of her single ‘One Last Time’ and a live audio version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ that she performed during the concert.
In a statement, We Love Manchester’s Councillor Sue Murphy said, as per NME: “Thanks to this we have raised more than £18m and we were conscious that we had to get some of swiftly this to those with immediate needs.”
But where exactly did this money go?
Well, Sue explained that following the concert, ‘around a third of the total’ was given to the bereaved families – that’s around £250,000 per family. Meanwhile, £3.5m was given to those who were hospitalised after the attack.
The British Red Cross also reported that it had received more than £10 million in donations in the twelve hours following the concert.