Usher Reveals Why He Missed Ariana Grande's One Love Manchester Concert

"I would have loved to be there," the "Crash" singer says

By Zach Johnson Jun 05, 2017 2:15 PMTags

"Where was Usher?"

That's the question many people were asking on Twitter Sunday after he was M.I.A. at One Love Manchester, Ariana Grande's charity concert that raised over $3 million for victims of the Manchester Arena bombing that took place May 22. Last week, a press release said Usher would be taking the stage in addition to Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Katy Perry, Take That and Pharrell Williams. Additional performers, like Black Eyed Peas and Little Mix, were added later on, while Liam Gallagher and Imogen Heap gave surprise performances.

Although Usher promoted the concert on social media, he never took the stage—and he didn't reveal why until Monday. Reaching out to his 6.5 million Instagram followers, the 38-year-old Crash" singer shared a photo of Grande singing on stage, writing, "So happy to see that last night's concert in Manchester proved that love always prevails. I would have loved to be there but it was my son's first day at Camp Kudzu, one of the few summer camps for kids living with diabetes. This was an important day for him and for myself as a proud father. Stay strong UK."

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Ariana Grande Leads Emotional One Love Manchester Benefit Concert
Tyler Golden/NBC

Funds raised will benefit the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which was set up by the city council and the British Red Cross. Ticketmaster set aside 14,000 free tickets for those who attended the May 22 concert. The remainder of the tickets for the show at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground—which has a capacity of about 50,000—sold out in under six minutes.

The British Red Cross confirmed that over $12 million has been raised since May 23.

During Sunday's concert, Grande asked a local children's choir to help her sing "My Everything," the title track off her second album. The pop star capped off the star-studded event with an emotional, powerful cover of Judy Garland's signature song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Grande performed "One Last Time" toward the end of the concert and will re-release the song as a charity single, with all the proceeds benefiting the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. Her Dangerous Woman tour, which was suspended after the attack, will resume June 7 in Paris.