Usher Explains His Absence From One Love Manchester Lineup

Usher has explained his no-show at Sunday’s One Love Manchester benefit concert: he was taking his son to a special summer camp for kids with diabetes.

The R&B star had been tipped to perform but was missing from the lineup on the big day. He addressed his absence with a post on Instagram. “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 U.K.”

The One Love Manchester concert drew the biggest U.K. TV audience of the year for the BBC this year and featured a bulging bill of stars, from Ariana Grande to Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Niall Horan, Take That and more. The concert took place just two weeks after a terrorist detonated a bomb following Grande’s concert at the Manchester Arena, killing 22 people.

The benefit concert and other initiatives have raised more than $13 million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which will "help alleviate immediate suffering and ensure victims and their families do not face short-term financial difficulties," the British Red Cross explained. 

Source: billboard.com