Ariana Grande still thinks about the Manchester terror attack "every day".
The 24-year-old pop megastar had just finished performing a concert at Manchester Arena in May last year when a suicide bomber exploded a nail bomb outside the venue, killing 22 people and injuring many more.
Ariana then staged a benefit concert in the English city a week later to raise money for those involved in the horrific ordeal, and has now said the event is still "painful" for her to think about.
Speaking in the Next Generation Leaders issue of Time magazine, she said: "There are so many people who have suffered such loss and pain. The processing part is going to take forever. It’s the absolute worst of humanity. That’s why I did my best to react the way I did. The last thing I would ever want is for my fans to see something like that happen and think it won.
"Music is supposed to be the safest thing in the world. I think that’s why it’s still so heavy on my heart every single day. I wish there was more that I could fix. You think with time it’ll become easier to talk about. Or you’ll make peace with it. But every day I wait for that peace to come and it’s still very painful."
The young star recently released ‘No Tears Left To Cry’ which touches on her feelings following on from the attack, and Ariana notes it was important not to feel as though her lyrics were exploiting the tragedy.
She added: "I felt more inclined to tap into my feelings because I was spending more time with them. I was talking about them more. I was in therapy more … When I started to take care of myself more, then came balance, and freedom, and joy. It poured out into the music."
Meanwhile, her manager Scooter Braun praised the star for her strength in the wake of the ordeal.
He said: "We put a lot on her shoulders. And she took over. You know, for the rest of her life, she can say that she is exactly who she claims to be."
Ariana Grande still thinks about terror attack
