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Shawn Mendes Urges Fans Not To Be Afraid After Manchester Attack

See him make a powerful statement onstage in Paris

After tributes from Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes is the latest artist to honor the victims of the attack in Manchester, which occurred on May 22 at an Ariana Grande concert.

At a show in Paris on Wednesday night (May 24), Mendes took some time to speak to his fans about the unwavering power of music.

“I want to start with the fact that I know we all stand here tonight in this arena with heavy hearts for the people who were affected by the attack. And I know that we all feel so, so sorry about what happened,” he began. “But I need to tell you guys how important music is. Music is the one of the very rare things in life that can bring people together in a way that words cannot describe, but we can only feel. And something that important is something that is worth protecting and never, never let it be broken.”

The Canadian crooner continued by urging his fans — most of them girls and young women — to not let the tragedy in Manchester keep them from going to concerts and being happy.

“I need to tell you guys that you should never, ever be afraid to enjoy to do what you truly love to do,” he said. “That goes for every single person that’s in this arena in Paris and everyone across the world. You should never be afraid to enjoy music, you should never be afraid to live life to the fullest.”

Fans at Mendes’s Paris concert also shared footage of Grande’s “One Last Time” being played before the show began. The 2015 song has taken on a different meaning in the wake of the Manchester attack, with Grande fans using it as a rallying cry and even helping it go to No. 1 on the UK iTunes chart this week.

Mendes’s comments reflect what he said on Instagram earlier this week: “I hope i speak for every Artist by saying that we will not stop spreading positivity and love through music no matter the situation.”

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