Manchester, England, will always be with Ariana Grande.
This week marked the anniversary of the deadly bombing attack that occurred during her 2017 Manchester Arena concert.
On Thursday, the “No Tears Left To Cry” singer posted an emotional tribute to the victims of the attack, which left 22 people dead, with a photo of a bee tattoo inked just above one of her ears.
“Forever,” the 24-year-old wrote in the caption of the photo posted to Twitter and Instagram, alongside an emoji of a dark cloud.
The worker bee is a symbol of Manchester and celebrates the city’s industrious spirit. According to the BBC, it’s even incorporated into the city’s coat of arms.
In June 2017, PRI reported that many Manchester residents showed their solidarity with the victims and survivors of the devastating bombing by getting the bee tattoo.
The Sun also reported in June 2017 that after Grande’s One Love Manchester benefit concert, which raised money for those affected by the tragedy, the singer and her tour team got the bee tattoo backstage.
Though this could very well be the tattoo featured in Grande’s post on Tuesday, the Daily Beast reported that when Grande got the bee tattoo backstage after her tribute concert, she got it on her arm, not above her ear — so this could possibly be a new tattoo.
Yet regardless of how many worker bee tattoos the singer may have, Grande still feels the sting of the attack.
In a moving interview, she recently told Time that even though she’s been relatively private about her feelings about the experience, there’s a reason for it.
“I don’t want to give it that much power,” Grande told the magazine while sobbing. “Something so negative. 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.”
Before You Go
