Ariana Grande’s worldwide concert series may be called the “Dangerous Woman” tour, but the brutality of terrorism has a way of revealing the vulnerability behind the carefully crafted image of our pop-music icons.
“[B]roken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words,” tweeted the 23-year-old singer early Tuesday, expressing her grief over the suicide bombing outside the Manchester Arena that has thus far claimed the lives of 22 victims, with the youngest thus far identified to have been just eight years old.
Ms. Grande has announced the tour, which had been set for a May 25 show in London, has been suspended. She returned home Tuesday to Boca Raton and was greeted at the airport by her boyfriend Mac Miller and mother Joan Grande, a source close to the singer telling People magazine, “She can’t believe this happened. She just wants to be with her family and loved ones right now.”
A self-described “micromanaging workhorse” and “obsessive-compulsive workaholic,” Ms. Grande rose to prominence in no small part due to her savvy use of social media.
The Florida native already had already enjoyed both Broadway stage and cable television experience before she was eligible to vote, locking down to a record contract the summer of her 18th birthday in 2011 on the strength of her YouTube videos going viral.
“Ariana is an extraordinary talent who has already achieved major success in both the TV and social networking spaces. Her drive, ambition, and determination are intoxicating,” an executive with Republic Records behind her recording deal said at the time.
Ms. Grande proved a smart gamble for Republic. Among other accomplishments, she “became the first woman in history and the first artist since Michael Jackson to simultaneously have three songs … in the Top 6 of the Digital Songs Chart,” according to Republic’s website.
On top of that, in 2013 she was awarded “Best New Artist” at the American Music Awards and “Favorite Breakout Artist” at the 2014 People’s Choice Awards, in addition to other awards and chart-topping hits between then and now, including the single “Dangerous Woman” off the album by the same name.
But in the midst of overwhelming success and a meteoric rise to fame, Ms. Grande has taken hits on social media — the very phenomenon credited with her rise — for her reported penchant for diva-like and sometimes downright anti-social behavior.
In 2015, for example, the singer was caught up in a maelstrom over video of her licking a pastry in a doughnut shop and leaving it in the display rack for an unsuspecting customer to happen upon.
As icing on the proverbial cake, she further outraged others by blasting America after tasting the sugary treat and finding it to her disliking.
She subsequently apologized for both defiling the doughnut and defaming her country of birth, saying she was proud to be an American but frustrated with the nation’s obesity epidemic.
Of course now, in retrospect, those events of two summers ago seem rather foolishly quaint, a silly distraction in a world bedeviled with depravity, where a bloodthirsty suicide bomber targets a venue full of innocent young girls as they listen to a talented young woman they admire.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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