Who is Ariana Grande? The singer and actor whose Manchester Arena concert was targeted by a suicide bomber

The US singer has topped the UK album and single charts

Ariana Grande

(Getty)

Twenty-two people have died and a further 59 injured in a suspected terrorist attack outside Manchester Arena on Monday night.

Concert goers were leaving the venue following a performance by Ariana Grande, the 23-year-old American singer and actor who topped the UK album charts with the Dangerous Woman last year.

Grande — born in Florida — first started performing professionally in 2008 when she was cast in the broadway musical 13, winning the National Youth Theatre Association Award.

Thanks to the stand-out role, Grande was cast in Nickelodeon’s television show Victorious, playing Cat Valentine in the high-school based sitcom.

Almost 6 million people tuned into the first episode of Victorious, which concluded in 2013. Grande’s character was so beloved by fellow teens that a spin-off show was commissioned, named Sam & Cat, which ran for 35 episodes, concluding in 2014.

Before the spin-off show began, however, Grande was already entering the music world, having released her debut single in 2011 called ‘Put Your Hearts Up’. While the teen-pop single did;t take off, her 2013 follow-up ‘The Way’ peaked at number nine on the billboard charts.

Grande’s real break-out was a year later, with the release of ‘Problem’, featuring Iggy Azalea, in 2014, the single from the album My Everything reaching number one in the UK. That same year, the Jessie J and Nicki Minaj featuring ‘Bang Bang’ also topped the UK charts.

Soon after, Grande was appearing on numerous TV shows, including a tenure hosting Saturday Night Live, being a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race, and a cameo voice role on Family Guy.

More recently, the singer’s album Dangerous Woman hit number one in the UK album charts. Grande was set to tour the album around the world but has suspended playing further shows due to the Manchester incident. Read the latest here.