AMERICAN pop star Ariana Grande is to become an honourary citizen of Manchester following her inspiring actions after the terror attack on May 22.

This was the recent news as Manchester Council proposed a new system to recognise people who have made an outstanding contribution.

Grande is set to become the first recipient of this new honour, in recognition of her role organising the One Love Manchester concert on June 4, which raised almost £3 million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.

Following the attack, which claimed the lives of 22 of her fans after a suicide bomber targeted the venue, the songstresses actions were heavily scrutinised.

Ariana was not directly affected, though as news quickly spread she was seen, distraught, flying back to her home in the US.

Daily Mail columnist Piers Morgan was quick to slam the singer - how out of character - brandishing her selfish and uncaring of fans who could not jet off to escape the nightmare.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though. Noone can accurately say how they would react to such a terrible event.

It's surely a natural, knee-jerk reaction to seek the comfort of home, friends and family: exactly what most of the crowd did as they sought familiar faces.

Whilst the title of honourary Mancunian is just that - a title - what it does is recognise a young woman's empathy, compassion and bravery.

After pausing to regroup, the singer arranged an impressive star-studded music bash with big named pop stars and Manchester-based acts.

Free tickets were offered to those who had attended her previous Manchester gig and money was raised to help the victims families.

I sat and watched the One Love Manchester concert on television in its entirety. Whilst I can't claim to be a huge fan of the singer's - many songs had recently not appeared on my radar - it was hard not to be moved.

Many female pop stars market themselves as being progressive and independent role models to their younger fans. Though it's refreshing to see one follow through with their projected image and set a positive example.

This act of compassion was similarly seen when Jeremy Corbyn visited the families of victims of the Grenfell Tower Block fire.

Pictured embracing grieving mothers and listening to the horrible ordeal residents endured, his reaction was a far cry from Theresa May's, who was criticised for visiting the firemen and swiftly leaving.

The simple fact is that there's comfort knowing despite people's positions of power or celebrity status, we are all in this together.

We all hurt, love and can provide a shoulder to cry on for each other and arguably, with all the recent tragic news, we need this now more than ever.