Trisha Yearwood on Manchester Attack: ‘I’m Frustrated, and I’m Sad’
On Tuesday (May 23), Trisha Yearwood was scheduled to appear on Today to discuss her new line of cookware and goings-on related to her Food Network show Trisha's Southern Kitchen; however, following the Monday night (May 22) attack outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Yearwood and co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford decided to take their time in a different direction.
"I don't really feel like talking about, 'Hey, this is what you should go out and do!'" Yearwood explained to Kotb and Gifford near the end of their segment. "I think this is a day of respect."
Instead, the three women spoke about the attack, and about Yearwood's performance of the National Anthem at Monday night's Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Playoffs game. The country star says that she was seeing rumblings on social media about the incident just before she had to sing, "but we really didn't know any details."
"I think, in this day and age, you don't do anything without considering that we live in a different world, but you also ... Everybody says, 'You've gotta live your life, and you can't let [terrorists] win' ... I think music is that place where, it is a healer, it is the place that people go to escape the things in their life that they want to get away from, and that's what makes me the saddest," Yearwood says. "Especially with Ariana Grande, with these little girls who just want to go hear her sing, and they're just in their having the time of their lives and trying to just have fun."
Although attacks such as the one on Monday night are becoming more and more common, Yearwood says that she thinks it's important "to still be completely surprised and devastated every time something like this happens, because I don't want it to be like, 'Oh, well, there's another one.'"
During her talk with Gifford and Kotb, Yearwood noted that she is "frustrated" and "sad," especially for the victims and their families, but also for Grande herself: "Even though it has no bearing on her, it's still got to be devastating," Yearwood reflects.
Just minutes after Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena concluded on Monday night, a bomb of some sort was detonated outside of the venue, killing 22 people and injuring 59 people (so far). The person who set off the device, 22-year-old Salman Abedi, died in the attack, but Greater Manchester Police have also arrested an unnamed 23-year-old man in South Manchester in connection with the incident; extremist terrorist group ISIS has taken responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement on its social media channels.
A number of country artists have shared condolences to those affected by the incident in Manchester, and voiced their feelings about such an attack occurring outside of a concert venue; others have responded to some of the insensitive rhetoric surrounding the incident. Brent Cobb, who was scheduled to play in Manchester on Tuesday night, performed as planned, and artists who have upcoming dates in the area on their calendars are pledging to do the same.
Country Songs Inspired By World Tragedies