Pop star Ariana Grande has said she is “moved and honoured” after being made an honorary citizen of Manchester.
On Wednesday councillors voted unanimously to make the singer the first honorary citizen of the city, following her response to the bombing after her concert at the Manchester Arena on May 22.
Grande, 23, wrote on social media: “I don’t know what to say. Words don’t suffice.
“I’m moved and honoured. My heart is very much still there. I love you. Thank you.”
She also posted an emoji of a bee, a symbol of the city.
Twenty-two people died in the attack, carried out by suicide bomber Salman Abedi.
At a meeting at Manchester Town Hall, attended by some family members of victims, council leader Sir Richard Leese put forward the motion and described the singer as “a young American woman for whom it would have been understandable if she never wanted to see this place again”.
He said instead she “brought comfort to thousands and raised millions for the We Love Manchester emergency fund” by returning to the city to perform in June after organising the One Love Manchester benefit concert.
