seventy-seven shows across five continents, and the one that everything in her career is dated from — before it, or after.
the short answer
the dangerous woman tour ran through 2017 across five continents, with seventy-seven shows and a gross above seventy million dollars. on 22 may a bomb was detonated in the foyer of manchester arena as the audience left her show, killing twenty-two people. the tour was suspended, she organised one love manchester thirteen days later, and then finished the run.
what it was supposed to be
the coronation. dangerous woman was the first record where the persona was hers rather than assigned to her, and this was the tour that took it out at the scale it deserved — seventy-seven dates, five continents, the largest production she had built.
22 may
a bomb was detonated in the foyer of manchester arena as the audience was leaving. twenty-two people were killed, most of them young, many of them there because of her, and over a thousand were injured. the tour was suspended immediately.
finishing it
she went back. one love manchester was organised in under two weeks and headlined by her, on a bill assembled from everyone who said yes, and then she resumed the tour and played it to its end.
what that run means now has almost nothing to do with the seventy-seven shows or the seventy-one million dollars. it is that the person with every reason never to walk onto a stage again chose to walk back onto that one, in that city, in front of those people, thirteen days later.
the cost of it
she has been direct about that too. the ptsd and the anxiety date from this tour by her own account — she has said it was at its most severe when she came home in september 2017, and in 2019 she posted the brain scan. sweetener, released fifteen months after manchester, is the record about the year that followed.
what changed afterwards
- security. the arrangements at her shows, and at arena shows generally in the uk, are different because of this. the changes are permanent and industry-wide.
- the audience relationship. one last time, a modest 2015 single, was pushed back up the uk chart by a fan campaign and is now one of her largest songs anywhere.
- the giving. royal manchester children's hospital has received a donation from her every year since. the charity page has the record.
questions people ask
how many shows was the dangerous woman tour?
seventy-seven, across five continents, with a gross above seventy million dollars.
what happened at the manchester arena?
on 22 may 2017 a bomb was detonated in the foyer as the audience left her show. twenty-two people were killed and over a thousand injured.
did ariana grande finish the dangerous woman tour?
yes. it was suspended after the attack, she headlined one love manchester thirteen days later, and then resumed and completed the run.
what was one love manchester?
a benefit concert she organised in under two weeks, held on 4 june 2017, which raised over £10 million for the we love manchester emergency fund.
how did the tour affect her health?
she has said her ptsd and severe anxiety date from it, and that the anxiety was at its worst when she came home in september 2017.