One Love Manchester: Ariana Grande's mum defiantly walked through the crowd to prove she's 'not afraid'

Although she could have easily quietly supported her daughter from backstage last night, Ariana Grande’s mum, Joan Grande, was keen to show everybody in the 50,000-strong crowd at One Love Manchester that she was not afraid following the tragic Manchester terrorist attack, encouraging everybody else to remain defiant in the face of hatred too.

With many of last night’s concert-goers admitting that they had been “scared” or “nervous” to attend the benefit concert, especially after the tragic terror attack at London Bridge on Saturday night, Joan was keen to prove a point as she walked through the busy crowds, telling music fans: “Do not be afraid.”

We spotted Joan mingling with the thousands of patrons at the show, happily posing for selfies and embracing her daughter’s fans as she encouraged them to not let what happened at Ariana’s May 22 concert at Manchester Arena change the way that they live their lives.

More than 100 people suffered serious injury and 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his homemade bomb at the end of Ariana’s sold-out concert last month, and it was reported at the time that Joan had protected dozens of fans after the atrocity occurred.

The proud mum was sitting in the front row as her daughter performed and was on her way backstage when the bomb went off, ushering everybody who was still around her into the backstage area and remaining with them until she knew that it was safe for them to leave.

She flew home to Florida with a “traumatised” Ariana the following day, with the 23-year-old singer requiring time at home with her family to come to terms with what happened before planning last night’s benefit concert in a bid to do everything in her power to help the victims of the attack.

In little over a week, Ariana organised the entire event, calling on a host of her famous friends to perform at the show for free as well as making the time to visit the hospitalised victims of the attack and the parents of those who tragically lost their lives.

The popstar has been widely praised for how she handled the entire atrocity, with the parents of the children who were visited in hospital by Ariana revealing that the star had told them she “can’t do enough for them” as she asked them to let her know what she could do to make their lives a little easier.

One Love Manchester was broadcast live in 50 countries last night as well as streamed online, with over £2million being donated by the general public during the show’s three-hour run time, catapulting the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund over the £10million mark.

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