Ariana Grande’s world tour reportedly suspended following Manchester attack

Ariana Grande has put the whole of the European leg of the tour on hold, following a terror attack on her Manchester arena concert which killed 22 and left 59 injured.

Ariana Grande. AP / File photo

Ariana Grande, whose concert was struck by one of Britain’s deadliest terror attacks in years, is a favourite of preteens and is rarely known for courting controversy.

The 23-year-old actress and singer called her last album Dangerous Woman, with the "danger" in her lyrics more about love than anything sinister.

Grande wrote on Twitter that she felt “broken” after Monday’s deadly attack, which sent screaming fans fleeing the venue after a blast in the foyer of the Manchester Arena moments after the left the stage.

“From the bottom of my heart, I am so-so sorry. I don’t have words,” she wrote.

Grande’s management released a longer statement on Instagram saying “words cannot express their sorrow for the victims and families harmed in this senseless attack”.

Born in Florida, the Italian-American's career began on Broadway where she performed in the musical 13, and then continued in a starring role on Nickelodeon's 2009 series, Victorius.

With a singing style that has been compared to Mariah Carey, Grande burst on to the music scene in 2013, when her first album Yours Truly debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.

Grande's success continued with her second album, My Everything, which also debuted at number one in the US, with the singles Problem and Love Me Harder ensuring the pop-star's continuous rise.

Over the course of her three studio albums, her look has gradually turned more sensual, but unlike her contemporary Miley Cyrus, Grande never broke completely with the teeny-bopper image. Her “Arianator” fan base is full of young girls experiencing their first concerts.

In perhaps her biggest brush with controversy, in 2015 Grande released a feminist manifesto that attacked the focus on her, and other women’s, personal lives.

“The double standard and misogyny are still ever present,” she said in statement disseminated on social media.

“I can’t wait to live in a world where people are not valued by who they’re dating / married to / attached to, having sex with (or not) / seen with ... but by their value as an individual,” she said.

In an interview last month with Cosmopolitan, Grande said she has started running her show “from top to bottom” as she no longer felt comfortable putting her business in others’ hands.

“Now I’m very much in charge, and it feels amazing,” she said.

As a celebrity, she has seldom found herself in the tabloids for the wrong reasons. In 2015 she was caught on camera with one of her back-up dancers licking the frosting off a doughnut and mumbling “I hate America”.

She later clarified that she was proud to be American and was only critiquing her country’s penchant for overeating.

Grande has generally stayed away from activism, other than speaking out about her vegan diet as a way to reduce suffering for animals.

Entertainment news website TMZ reported that the remainder of the European leg of Ariana Grande's world tour is now on hold. Grande was to perform two shows in London and then venues in Europe, including Belgium, Poland, Germany, Switzerland and France.

Grande was to perform in Abu Dhabi in 2015, but the concert was cancelled just two days prior with promoters Flash Entertainment saying the singer was "unable to travel".

* With Agencies