Ariana Grande named honorary citizen of Manchester for her support to the city
Ariana Grande has supported the Manchester, UK, community with a great amount of time and energy in the weeks following the attack at her concert earlier this year.
Now, Grande is being officially recognized for her contribution to the city as an honorary citizen of Manchester. The vote was unanimous in a city council meeting held on Wednesday.
The idea was proposed in June just after Grande held her One Love Manchester benefit concert. The concert, featuring Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and others, reportedly raised around $3.5 million to support victims of the attack.
City council leader Sir Richard Leese proposed the idea and praised Grande for her continued dedication to the city.
"She, as an artist, a performer, was determined that she would not perform again until she had returned to Manchester to perform,” Leese said in a Daily Mail article.
“In doing so, she brought comfort to thousands, she raised millions for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, and became the first patron of that fund. And that’s why I propose that Ariana Grande is made the first honorary citizen of the city of Manchester.”
Following the concert, Grande also released an album and two singles as part of her fundraising efforts and she continues to remember the victims in her performances.
The title of honorary citizen in the future will be given to people from outside the city who, like Grande, make an "outstanding contribution" to the city, according to NBC News.
Grande is still continuing her Dangerous Woman tour through the end summer internationally.
