Ariana leads a 'night of love' at Manchester benefit concert

Ariana Grande was moved to tears as she said "Manchester, I love you with all my heart" after she was joined by a host of musical superstars for a benefit concert for the victims of the terror attack at her recent show.

The US pop singer, 23, said she was inspired to change her set list for the One Love Manchester benefit concert after the mother of one of the teenage victims said her daughter would have wanted to hear the hits.

Grande appeared on stage at the Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground in an an oversized white One Love Manchester sweatshirt and seemed overcome by emotion throughout the night.

Highlights of the show included a surprise appearance by Mancunian Liam Gallagher, who was joined by Coldplay for a rendition of the Oasis hit Live Forever, which ended with Gallagher throwing his tambourine into the crowd.

He said: "I want to dedicate this next song to the beautiful people who were killed and injured in the Manchester terror attack."

Earlier in the night Coldplay joined Grande on stage to sing Oasis's hit Don't Look Back In Anger, which has been an anthem for Manchester since the tragedy.

Police officers and security guards could be seen dancing with members of the crowd as the band also played Viva La Vida.

Before launching into her hit Side To Side, Grande told the crowd: "I want to thank you so much for coming tonight and being so happy and strong and unified.

"I love you guys so much.

"This night is the kind of thing the world really needs right now."

Grande said she had not planned to play so many of her big hits during the show but changed her mind after meeting the mother of Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, who was among the victims of the blast that killed 22 people at at her concert last week.

She said: "I had the pleasure of meeting Olivia's mummy a few days ago and I started to cry and gave her a big hug and she said 'stop crying, because Olivia wouldn't have wanted you to cry'.

"And then she told me Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits. We had a different show planned and we had a rehearsal yesterday and we changed everything."

Proceeds from the concert will go towards the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, set up by Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross, to support grieving families and victims of the bombing.

During the show Grande duetted with Miley Cyrus on Crowded House's Don't Dream It's Over and was joined on stage by her boyfriend Mac Miller as they performed their collaboration The Way and Miller's track Dang!

Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford opened the show as he sang "you are not alone in this" as he performed an acoustic version of the band's hit Timshel.

The singer took to the stage after a one-minute silence for those who lost their lives.

Concertgoers began queueing outside Lancashire Cricket Club's Old Trafford ground from 8.30am ahead of the gig, which marked Grande's first performance since bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device, killing her fans and parents as they left her show.

All Grande fans who attended the gig on May 22 were offered free passes to the benefit concert.

Throughout the night Grande performed her hits Be Alright and Break Free, as well as her duet Better Days with Victoria Monet.

She also joined Black Eyed Peas to perform their hit Where Is The Love? and a choir from Parrs Wood High School to sing their version of her song, My Everything and closed the show with her track One Last Time and Over The Rainbow from The Wizard of OZ.

The show also saw performances from Take That and Robbie Williams, who led the crowd in a singalong to his hit Strong, with the lyrics changed to "Manchester, we're strong, we're strong, we're strong, we're still singing our songs".

Other stars who took to the stage included Pharrell Williams, One Direction star Niall Horan, Justin Bieber, Little Mix and Imogen Heap also performed hits at the show while Katy Perry performed her hit Roar, saying: "We will not be silenced, Manchester."