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four-octave vocal range – had taken herto the very limits of success; a catalogueof wildly infectious R&B/EDM-tingedpop songs streamed several billion timesover, sell-out tours, clothing lines and afabulous run of music videos thatappeared to chronicle her on a noblemission to find the world’s shortest skirt.Along the way she cultivated an army offans – her Arianators, who number inthe tens of millions – along with fauxscandals, fascinating boyfriend choices,and all the other flotsam that comes withbeing the biggest thing in pop. To top itall – literally – she perfected the mostscrutinised up-do in history. An excellentlife for a woman not long out of her teens.Then: tragedy. On May 22, 2017,during the British leg of her DangerousWoman tour, as the crowd poured outof her concert at Manchester Arena, a``````young man called Salman Abedi walkedinto the foyer and detonated ahomemade bomb, killing 22 of her fansand their parents, as well as himself. Afurther 500 people sustained injuries inthe worst act of terrorism Britain hadexperienced since the 7/7 bombingsmore than a decade before. ThatGrande’s audience skews so young onlyadded to the horror. Ari, as her fans callher, is also a lightning rod for those whoare a bit different – her concerts areoften a place for the bullied and anxiousto let loose, and LGBTQ kids frequentlycome out for the first time when theyare introduced to the “Break Free” singerat her meet-and-greets. She hugs themand proclaims, “Tonight’s show will beyour coming-out party!”As the events of that night unfoldedin real time across social media and on``````global news stations, it became apparentthis was an agony that no one knew howto process. Grande tweeted in the earlyhours: “Broken. From the bottom of myheart, I am so so sorry. I don’t havewords.” So she did something else: sheannounced that she would throw amemorial concert in the city ofManchester, to honour the dead andraise money for the families of victims.Initially, this was not a universallypopular proposition. Grief police – suchas Piers Morgan – were out in force,questioning her appropriateness. Butcome the night, come the woman. Shegathered the biggest names in music –from Coldplay and Liam Gallagher toJustin Bieber and Miley Cyrus – and injeans, sweatshirt and spike heels becamethe superhero we needed. When she sangwith a local school choir the effect >ABOVE: SILK SHIRT,£960, CHLOE. PATENT-LEATHER SHOES, £605,SAINT LAURENT BYANTHONY VACCARELLO